News content has returned to Facebook in Australia, a week after the social media juggernaut blocked users from accessing journalism in response to controversial new legislation put forward by the Federal Government.
Australia media code passes with input from Facebook
We learned from CNET that Australia passed its news-bargaining law on Wednesday after rewrites with input from Google and Facebook earlier this week. The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code requires Google and Facebook to negotiate licensing agreements with publishers for news articles that appear in the tech giants’ search and feed.
The revised code was hammered out by Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, FB’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google head Sundar Pichai.
After Facebook cut off Australian users from news last week and Google worked out multimillion-dollar deals with Australian media organizations including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp during the code’s six-month journey into law, the code was finalized with three key edits:
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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.