On Feb. 18, Australians woke up to find that all the local news stories that they had shared on Facebook had abruptly disappeared. The social media giant's global cull of Australian news hit not only media companies, but also a wide range of governmental organizations, including some state and local health departments and the Bureau of Meteorology.

Facebook claimed it had no choice in the face of a proposed media law that would force tech giants to pay for the use of local media content.