(23 Feb 2021) Facebook Inc. reached a deal with the Australian government to restore news pages to the social media company’s platform, following a five-day suspension because of a disagreement over payment for content.
Facebook removed news from its platform in Australia last week, as legislation that would effectively require Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to pay traditional media companies for content worked its way through the country’s parliament. The legislation is being widely watched globally and could offer a model for other countries to compel tech giants to pay for content.
Facebook got some changes to the legislation as part of the deal. That includes requiring an additional round of negotiation with media companies before binding arbitration kicks in, as well as more acknowledgment of any deals Facebook reaches with publishers on its own, a government statement and government officials said Tuesday. In return, Facebook planned to restore news pages to its platform in Australia in the coming days, the statement said.
Read the full news from Wall Street Journal here.
