I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar said India is closely monitoring the situation in Australia and elsewhere after Canberra cleared legislation to make tech companies pay for local news
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AFTER UNFRIENDING each other last week, Facebook and Australia are pals again. On February 23rd the world’s largest social network announced that it would reverse its decision to switch off the sharing of news on its site in Australia, as well as the sharing of Australian news sources globally. For its part, the Australian government said it would amend its proposed News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which had so upset Facebook.
Both sides claim victory. The government points to the fact that news will soon be restored to the platform, and that Facebook has agreed to make payments to Australian media companies. Yet the last-minute amendments will allow Facebook and other tech companies to avoid the code’s most exacting terms if they are deemed to be contributing enough. The upshot is that big tech will be able to sidestep regulation if it is willing to pay off its media critics an outcome that suits both parties, if not necessarily consumers.
Australia Passes ‘World First’ Google, Facebook Media Payment Law
The contentious “world-first” media payment law that spurred Facebook to censor news content in Australia will soon be in force after the Australian federal Parliament ratified it on Thursday.
The media payment law locks Google and Facebook into a framework where eligible news outlets in Australia, with a minimum revenue of $150,000, can enter negotiations with the tech giants for payment of their content.
Facebook secured several amendments to the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code after it prevented news content from being displayed on its platform last week and suspended the pages of major news outlets.
After a last-gasp deal that watered-down binding rules Facebook and Google had fiercely opposed in return for the tech giants agreeing to pay local media companies, Australia s parliament passed landmark legislation on Thursday. The dispute was closely watched around the world.