Google planned to block Australians from using its service, bombshell email reveals

Google planned to block Australians from using its services three years ago, after introducing a law that would force the company to pay media publications for news content.

The proposed shutdown was discussed in bombshell emails that surfaced as part of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust lawsuit against Google.

The DOJ launched a civil antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant in January, alleging that Google had “monopolized multiple digital advertising technology products.”

Emails from Google’s product manager Bryan Mao have revealed the company’s plan to close in Australia in December 2020, following a deal with Samsung.

“Do not explicitly discuss (redacted) with Samsung prior to the conclusion of the AU,” Mr. Mao wrote, according to documents filed in the antitrust case.

“There is a confidential Need to Know project called (redacted) that could impact Samsung.

“Basically, due to a new law in Australia, search features may be disabled across Australia from December 3.

‘This includes Discover and most/all search and assistant functionality. If this goes ahead, it would obviously have a major impact on Samsung devices in the AU.

‘The closure will not take place permanently, but we are nevertheless prepared for it. This is obviously not our ideal way to start the new relationship with Samsung.”

Samsung would be notified “immediately” of the closure as soon as it occurred, but not before, the documents said.

The Justice Department launched a civil antitrust lawsuit against Google in January, alleging the tech giant had ‘monopolized multiple digital advertising technology products’

Google had also simulated a ‘404 page not found’ in the event of the shutdown, with the message: ‘Search is currently unavailable in Australia. Due to a new law, Google Search is unavailable, but we hope to be back soon’, Mumbrella reported.

Ny Breaking Australia has contacted Google for comment.

The proposed closure came in response to Australia’s News Media Bargaing Code, which was designed to tackle the enormous power of Google and Facebook by forcing them to pay media companies for news content.

The code became law in March 2021.

Facebook temporarily blocked all news content in February 2021 and also took charity pages, emergency services providing Covid information, domestic violence shelters and missing persons groups offline.

Facebook’s news ban sent shockwaves around the world and led to campaigns to remove the app.

“Delete Facebook,” “Boycott Zuckerberg” and “Facebook We Need To Talk” started trending on rival site Twitter.

The ban was lifted a week later after a compromise was reached between the company and the Australian government on the new code.