“I’m not paying for news,” said Ipswich teen Kristen Pattemore, but it seems soon she may have to. 

Last Thursday, Ms Pattemore and people all over Australia woke up to find Facebook had banned the sharing and viewing of news from all Australian accounts. 

The social media platform announced that it made the move after the Federal Government’s proposed media bargaining law was passed through the House of Representatives.  

The law sought to make Google and Facebook enter into commercial agreements with media companies from which the tech companies aggregate articles to populate their own news sites. 

Google agreed to sign multiple deals with Australian news outlets but Facebook announced “with a heavy heart” it would remove news content on its Australian services.  

The change was a shock to many however the indirect attack on young people was the most apparent. 

Ms Pattemore a nineteen-year-old Ipswich student admitted she consumed her news from the social media platform daily. 

“It was my main source of getting the news to be honest,” she said. 

“I can’t say I’ve read a newspaper in the past year, maybe longer, I just don’t have a need too when it’s so quick and accessible on my phone.

“I think it’s crazy how much we picked up on Facebook news without even realising it.”

And Ms Pattemore wasn’t alone, 23-year-old University of Southern Queensland student, Joseph Mooney said despite subscribing to news outlets, he was still using Facebook for news, five days a week. 

“I subscribe to The Australian and the Sunshine Coast Daily,” he said. 

“[I used] Facebook for news four to five times a week.” 

Senior lecturer in cyber security at Griffith University, Dr David Tuffley, said Mr Mooney and Ms Pattemore were part of the generation that uses social media the most, so there were no surprises they relied heavily upon it for news.  

“The younger generation are used to getting their news from Facebook and from different news channels via Facebook,” he said. 

“I see there being an impact there, especially if it becomes permanent.

“A potential problem could be young people falling behind, but I think they will find the information if they want to,” he said. 

“YouTube is a way lots of Gen Z get their information so it’s an issue but