Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young roasted Treasurer Josh Fryderberg, telling Parliament: The government has buckled here. You ve blinked, you weakened the power the minister has because Facebook bullied you. This is a face-saving exercise by the Treasurer .
Facebook shocked the world last week when it blocked Australian news websites in response to a new law forcing it to pay media companies for news content.
The tech giant on Tuesday said it would end the ban after the government made changes to the bill, including a clause exempting a platform if it makes a significant contribution to news in Australia.
The Greens and independent senator Rex Patrick said this amendment could allow the Treasurer to let big tech off the hook after just a few deals with large companies like News Corp, leaving smaller publishers unable to get any cash.
Facebook s hastiness to compromise follows greater than anticipated backlash24/02/2021|5min
Former CEO of Facebook Australia and New Zealand Stephen Scheeler told Sky News Facebook’s “hastiness” to reach a compromise with the government triggered a negative reaction which was greater than expected.
Facebook is set to restore access to news content after the Morrison government announced it will introduce a number of technical amendments to its media bargaining code.
“I think they managed to get a few concessions from the government at the last minute that clearly satisfied Mark Zuckerberg,” Mr Scheeler said.
“I think there was probably a hastiness to get it done on their side as well because some of the negative reaction, I would think, was a little greater than they anticipated”.
By VLAD SAVOV | Bloomberg | Published: February 24, 2021 Facebook s brief but tempestuous standoff with the Australian government over a world-first pay-for-news law is only the start of a string of regulatory battles that the world s biggest social network faces in 2021. Mark Zuckerberg started the year on the offensive, blocking news across Rupert Murdoch s home turf of Australia to fend off demands that Facebook pay media companies for content shared on its platform. On Tuesday, Zuckerberg struck a compromise after 11th-hour talks with the government on the legislation that s also aimed at Google and is expected to pass Australia s parliament this week. But a regulatory domino effect is already underway, with publishers pressuring the European Union to emulate Australia s approach.
In today’s ExchangeWire news digest: Facebook restores news sharing in Australia after reaching a last-minute compromise with the government; TikTok and Shopify partner to offer in-app ad campaigns to UK merchants; and Australia’s OMA reveals out-of-home advertising’s 2020 revenue results.
Facebook will overturn their ban on news sharing in Australia. The decision, announced yesterday (23
rd February) comes after the social media giant reached a last-minute deal with the Australian government.
The new agreement, presented by treasurer and leading proponent of the News Media Bargaining Code Josh Frydenberg, will see Facebook and Big Tech compatriot Google invest substantial amounts into the nation’s waning news sector instead of being forced to arrange costly financial agreements with individual media outlets.
After almost a year of heated discussion about the News Media Bargaining Code, there will shortly be a new law of the land – one that’s unlikely to be applied to the platforms it was intended to reign in. But that’s not to say it hasn’t done its job.
With some final tweaks expected to the draft legislation, Facebook on Tuesday announced it would restore news for Australian users and strike up commercial agreements with local publishers. It signed its first deal with Seven West media yesterday.
Google has already done deals with News Corp, Nine Fairfax, Seven West Media, The Guardian and regional news company ACM, turning back on its initial threat to pull Google Search from Australia.