Collateral damage in a war between billionaires

US tech billionaires have too much power over our lives, but giving Murdoch more power isn’t the solution

Today our Facebook page was silenced. We can’t rely on tech billionaires to communicate with the movement that is trying to take our democracy back from them. Forward this email to a friend and ask them to join our mailing list so we can bypass these corporate gatekeepers.

This morning we were shocked to wake up and discover that our Facebook page, along with the pages of thousands of Australian organisations, publishers and even emergency services agencies had been removed by Facebook.

Why is all this happening? There is a fight between US tech billionaires and Australian media billionaires, and we are simply collateral damage. To these big businesses our news sources and communities are all disposable if it serves their interests.

Right now there is a law before Parliament which would force big tech companies to pay for sharing Australian news on their platforms. Australian media billionaires like Rupert Murdoch have been pushing hard for these laws.

US tech billionaires have enormous power over our lives: from the way we talk to each other, find information, access news and engage in politics. As these tech giants have grown, historically powerful media companies have been struggling to survive. This has left Australia with fewer news-rooms, fewer journalists and less local media. It’s a real problem, but it won’t be solved by simply forcing one set of billionaires to pay another set of billionaires.

Big business is not on our side. They are more than willing to harm our democracy and manipulate our access to information whenever it suits them. Everyday the Murdoch media stokes racism and spreads lies to divide and distract us, while Facebook amplifies misinformation and gives platforms to violent far-right groups.

Communicating with each other is how our movement stays coordinated and connected. It’s how we grow and how we take action. How we communicate with each other is fundamental and we can’t let that be held hostage by for-profit platforms who don’t want us to win.

So while our Facebook page has been taken down, there are two critical ways you can help:

1. Ask your friends to join our mailing list. Instead of relying on closed platforms with algorithms that decide what you see and what you don’t, email lets our movement talk directly to each other. When there are moments our movement needs to act together, email is the cheapest and most reliable way to make sure everyone knows about it. Sign up on our website >>
2. Make a $10 donation. Sending emails, texting and making phone calls all costs money. As our movement grows, so does our bill for communicating with each other. A $10 donation will mean we can text about 20 new members and help them find their role in our movement. Donate $10 now >>

We need to take our democracy back from big business so that we can win public services, that includes publicly funded local media, that provides for all of us. This is what a Climate Jobs Guarantee is all about. It’s about getting to work transforming our country so that we don’t just solve the climate crisis, we improve our lives too.