Facebook's move to block all media content in Australia is a staggeringly irresponsible attempt to bully a democracy and will stiffen the resolve of legislators across the world to get tough with the tech giants, said a senior British lawmaker.

"This action - this bully boy action - that they've undertaken in Australia will, I think, ignite a desire to go further amongst legislators around the world," Julian Knight, chair of the British Parliament's Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Committee, told Reuters.

"We represent people and I'm sorry but you can't run a bulldozer over that - and if Facebook thinks it'll do that, it will face...