SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) – The Australian government has vowed to start a publicity campaign for the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, adding that it would not be displayed on Facebook as the feud over the social media behemoth blocking news content from its platform in the country continues.
Just hours before the nation began vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government would undertake a wide-ranging communication campaign, including online, to make sure that vulnerable people turn up to get a jab.
However, the ban on the health department spending to advertise on Facebook would remain until the feud between the firm and the government regarding the new law to make Facebook pay for news content is resolved.
“On my watch, until this issue is resolved, there will not be Facebook advertising,” Hunt told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “There has been none commissioned or instituted since this dispute arose. Basically you have corporate titans acting as sovereign bullies and they won’t get away with it.”
Ever since the news blackout on Facebook, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said he would talk with Facebook about its move over the weekend. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Saturday that Facebook had “tentatively friended us again” without providing details.
To publicise the campaign Morrison himself got vaccinated on Sunday. He said the country would use “all the communication mechanisms available to us to reach people”.
Hunt said the authorities would employ all channels available to encourage people to get inoculated, adding that there would be messages on foreign language broadcaster SBS.