Australian Finance Minister Josh Freidenberg and the US social media giant said they had reached a compromise on one of the key points in this text, the first of its kind in the world, which the sector giants vehemently opposed.
With these changes, we can now work to continue our investment in public service journalism and return Facebook news to Australians in the coming days.
Facebook Australia CEO, Will Easton said.
We are delighted that we reached an agreement with the Australian government and appreciate the constructive discussions we had.
Communicate with Facebook
Last week, Facebook in response to the bill banned posting links to information from local or international media. Several pages of the official Facebook rescue service were unintentionally affected.
This action sparked outrage in Australia as well as in several countries. Prime Minister Scott Morrison made no secret of his anger and accused Facebook of making a decision Unfriendly
.
A last-minute compromise, found during Parliament’s examination of the bill, means that Facebook and Google, who are specifically targeted by the bill, will not be subject to penalties if they manage to reach certain agreements with local media to pay for the information.
They were given another two months to negotiate these arrangements.
We have reached an agreement that allows us to support media groups of our choosing, including small and local groups.
From the start, the web giants declared their opposition to this law that aims to regulate the relationships between traditional media that face great financial difficulties and the giants who dominate the Internet and receive a large portion of advertising revenue.
They feared a precedent would threaten their economic model. There is no doubt that Australia has fought a proxy battle for the entire planet
Friedenberg said.
Varying Strategies
The digital giants have been particularly against these negotiations with the media as mandatory and that in the event of a dispute, an independent Australian arbitrator will decide.
Unlike Facebook, Google, which had threatened for a while to suspend its search engine in Australia, last week agreed to pay Important sums
In exchange for content from press groups, including News Corp. By Rupert Murdoch and Nine Entertainment.
Facebook, which relies less on news content, said it had no interest in paying for the information.
While Google and Facebook appear to have found a solution in Australia, this does not mean the end of their problems. The European Union, Canada and other countries intend to regulate this sector.
The two American giants have taken advantage of the lack of organization to become some of the most profitable companies in the world.
A series of scandals related to disinformation, privacy violations, data collection, or its virtual monopoly on online advertising has attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies.
Of the $ 100 in ads Australian companies spend now, 49 are in Google’s pockets and 24 are in Facebook, according to the Australian Competition Authority.
Critics of the Australian bill believe it penalizes successful companies and goes so far as to transfer money to struggling, but politically influential, mainstream media.
They also lament that it does not force the media to spend on public service journalism instead of spending money earned from Facebook and Google on its profits.
Thousands of jobs have been given up by the media sector in Australia over the past decade as advertising revenue has gone to big tech companies.
