In what should be a warning to other small Australian publishers, The TV Blackbox Facebook was deleted without warning, and without explanation on Wednesday evening by the social media juggernaut.
An automated message was later received from Facebook indicating the TV Blackbox page had been removed due to the publication of content which “violated the Facebook terms of service”.
However, the automated message failed to elaborate on what the content was which caused the issue and despite repeated attempts to contact Facebook, we are yet to receive any further correspondence regarding resolving the dispute.
Until now, TV Blackbox has enjoyed a creative and active community on Facebook and has never received a content warning prior to this incident. The Facebook page had been a key traffic driver for this website, and its removal coincides with an advertising revenue decline due to COVID.
TV Blackbox receives zero advertising revenue or support from Australia’s five free-to-air broadcasters despite the many years of promotion we have provided to their industry.
The removal of the TV Blackbox Facebook page comes at the same time as many of Australia’s small independent media businesses including this website continue the fight to receive payment for the use of our content.
While Facebook and Google have this year moved to strike content payment deals with Australia’s largest publishers including News Corp, Nine and the ABC, the negotiation process for many small independent media outlets has stalled.
The failure of News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code to represent small publishers has put further pressure on the sector and if unresolved will likely lead to a further reduction in the range of independent voices in the Australian media sector.
While the TV Blackbox Facebook page appears to be gone for good. We have moved to create a new Facebook community group. If you wish to show your support for this website and continue the conversation, you can join us here.
So much crap on social media and this is what gets deleted. Unbelievable.