Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

When Facebook briefly blocked all news from being posted on its platform in Australia last year, it used an overly broad definition of news publisher that it knew would cause collateral damage, company whistleblowers are alleging. Complaints filed with Australia’s Competition & Consumer Commission and the US Department of Justice allege that the company engaged in “a criminal conspiracy to obtain a thing of value, namely favorable regulatory treatment,” The Wall Street Journal reports.

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