Facebook on Wednesday started blocking users and companies from distributing or viewing news content, the latest broadside in a rapidly escalating war between lawmakers and Big Tech. Australian elected officials introduced a bill late last year that would force Google and Facebook to negotiate contracts with news publishers, in a bid to stop the technology giants from making money from the publishers’ content while paying them nothing. Facebook said its action came in response to the proposed law, saying it “fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content.” “It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter,” said William Easton, managing director for Australia and New Zealand for the California-based corporation. …