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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said his government will not be intimidated by Facebook blocking news feeds to users

Australians woke to empty Facebook news feeds on Thursday, after the social media giant blocked all media content in a surprise escalation of a dispute with the government, which could be a test for the future of online publishing worldwide.

Facebook Inc on Thursday put an end to a test of splitting its signature News Feed into two, an idea that roiled how people consumed news in the six countries where it occurred and added to concern about Facebook's power, reported Reuters.

Facebook on Thursday began to change the way it filters posts and videos on its centerpiece News Feed, the start of what Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said would be a series of changes in the design of the world's largest social network, reported Reuters. 

Media that relie on Facebook's access to an audience may soon have a serious problem, reports webcafe. 

The social media has begun tests in six countries where the main News Feed excludes all content generated by news or companies. Instead of automatically appearing to all users, these posts will be filtered into a separate stream - the so-called Explore Feed.

Facebook is currently testing a new dual-feed setup that separates Page-generated posts from ads and posts from friends, The Guardian reports. The trial is currently underway in six countries -- Bolivia, Guatemala, Cambodia, Slovakia, Serbia and Sri Lanka.

Facebook appears to be adding a new option that lets you temporarily "snooze" a friend's posts from appearing in your news feed.