Juan J. Monroe 
Take this Facebook.
A local app from Australia Broadcasting Company (ABC) has topped the iOS download charts in Australia, overtaking Facebook.
This matters for a big reason: Facebook just banned news from appearing on Australian news feeds in response to a law that would force the social giant to pay for news.
If Australians really shift to using sources like the ABC app for news, it could represent a massive, positive shift in media consumption. Facebook has long been plagued by misinformation and bad actors, but a source like ABC in fact veterinary information.
“Features include: reverse chronological feed; less misinformation than the leading brand; and the “stories” here don’t disappear after 24 hours! wrote journalist Casey Newtown on Twitter. “I think he might have a chance.”
A cursory search of App Annie around 1pm ET revealed that the ABC app was now second in free iOS app downloads in Australia, still seven places ahead of Facebook.
Facebook balked at the idea of paying for news because, as it wrote in a blog post, “the commercial gain from news is minimal” and that news made up “less than 4% of the content.” He insisted that while a platform like Google – which has opted to pay media – is irreversibly tied to news, publishers are opting to use Facebook.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Facebook’s action posed a threat to Australians.
“The idea of shutting down the kind of sites they did yesterday, as a sort of threat – well, I know how Australians react to that and I thought it was not a good move by their away,” he told reporters.
Still, it’s an encouraging sign that Australians seem willing to ditch Facebook as the news curator. The relationship between the social platform and news outlets has proven difficult at best, and consumers could end up with a better product without Zuck’s guiding hand.
