CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Facebook said on Tuesday it would lift a ban on Australian news sharing after reaching an agreement with the Australian government on legislation that would make digital giants pay for journalism.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook have confirmed that they have agreed to changes to the proposed legislation to require the social network and Google to pay for the Australian news it presents.
Facebook’s cooperation is a major victory in Australia’s efforts to make the two gateways to the Internet pay for the journalism they use. The company blocked Australian users from accessing and sharing news last week after the House of Representatives passed the bill late on Wednesday.
The amended version of the proposed legislation would give digital platforms a notification one month before they are officially designated in accordance with the code. This would give those involved more time to conclude brokerage agreements before they are forced to enter into the binding arbitration agreements required by the proposed law.
Initially, the blockade of Facebook news reduced access – at least temporarily – to the government pandemic, public health and emergency services, causing public outrage.
A statement from Campbell Brown, Facebook’s vice president of news partnerships, said Tuesday that the deal would allow the company to choose publishers it would support, including small and local publishers.
“We are re-establishing news on Facebook in Australia in the coming days. In the future, the government has clarified that we will retain the ability to decide whether news will appear on Facebook, so that we are not automatically subjected to forced negotiation, “said Brown.
Frydenberg described the agreed amendments as “clarifications” of the government’s intention. He said his negotiations with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were “difficult”.
“There is no doubt that Australia was a proxy fight for the world,” Frydenberg said.
“Facebook and Google did not hide the fact that they know that the eyes of the world are on Australia and that is why they sought a code that could be done here,” he added, referring to the News Media Bargaining Code.
The code was designed to reduce Facebook and Google’s bargaining dominance in their negotiations with Australian news providers, requiring a safety net for negotiation in the form of an arbitration group. Digital giants could not abuse their overwhelming bargaining positions by making take-it-or-leave-it payment offers to news companies for their journalism. In the event of a confrontation, the group will make a binding decision on a winning bid.
Belinda Barnet, a university lecturer at Swinburne, said the proposed amendments guarantee Facebook time to reach agreements before the arbitration commission decides a price for the news.
Peter Lewis, director of the Center for Responsible Technology at the Australia Institute, a think tank, said in a statement that “the changes keep the integrity of the media code intact.”
Google has also threatened to remove its search features from Australia because it said the proposed law is not enforceable. But that threat is gone.
Google has signed Australia’s largest media companies into content licensing agreements through its News Showcase model.
The platform says it has offers of over 50 Australian titles through Showcase and over 500 publishers globally, using the model launched in October.
Facebook has said it will now negotiate agreements with Australian publishers under its own model, Facebook News.
“We are pleased that the Australian Government has agreed to a number of changes and safeguards that address our key concerns about business permissions that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers in relation to the value we receive from them,” he said. Facebook regional director William Spuse Easton.
“As a result of these changes, we can now work to continue our investment in public interest journalism and restore news on Facebook for Australians in the coming days,” Easton added.