Friends Again: Why Facebook Backed Down
Less than a week after the social media giant cancelled the news in Australia, Facebook has again opened its doors to publishers.
By 96five Wednesday 24 Feb 2021
The news will soon be back in your feed.
On Tuesday (AEDT), Facebook announced that it had reached an agreement with the Government and will “restore news on Facebook for Australians in the coming days”.
The social media behemoth had banned the sharing of news content on its platform last week.
The stunning move came the day after the Australian Government’s proposed News Media Bargaining Code passed through the lower house.
Australia s parliament passed the "world-leading" News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code on Thursday aimed at making digital platforms like Facebook and Google pay for news content on the platform.Treasurer Josh .
Australian parliament passes news media bargaining code - World News sina.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sina.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Media code governing Facebook and Google in Australia becomes law
The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code had passed the Senate after amendments last night.
Under the mandatory code of conduct, technology giants Google and Facebook would be required to negotiate with Australian media companies over payment for news content and notify them of algorithm changes.
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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has celebrated the passage of the new media code.(Alex Ellinghausen/Sydney Morning Herald)
It followed a direction from the Morrison Government in December 2019 to facilitate the development of voluntary codes to address bargaining power imbalances between digital platforms and news media businesses.
Reasonable regulation is democratic, but the moral panic around big tech is muddying the waters.
Australia’s new News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code will force platforms like Facebook and Google to pay local media outlets and publishers to link their content in news feeds or search results. The Australian law is being seen as one of the early shots fired in the coming battle by countries to regulate tech giants to take back some of the control they have on global communications.
But is it an ideal regulatory model? Won’t regulating the platforms affect free speech? Is regulating platforms the way to save the news media business that is in the doldrums? Here we discuss the issue.