KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 18

Australians, on Thursday, woke up to empty news feeds on Facebook leaving tech giant users to an unpleasant surprise.

Facebook and search giant Google Inc had both warned they could cancel services in Australia because of looming laws that will force them to pay local publishers for content, according to Reuters.

The move, announced in a blog post, is criticised by many as this law force Facebook and Google to pay news publisher for content and Australian news publishers will be restricted from posting or sharing content on Facebook pages.

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a tweet he had a 'constructive discussion' with Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday and that talks with the company on the new law would continue.

The Associated Press quoted Facebook regional managing director William Easton as saying 'The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content,'

Meanwhile, the Australian Parliament is debating proposed laws that would make the two platforms strike deals to pay for Australian news.