After Google, FB strikes a deal with Australian news firms, lifts week long ban on news

Nine days after Facebook had banned Australian publishers from viewing or sharing news content in the country while it had stopped access to news, the networking giant on Friday reached a consensus with the government and restores access to news in Australia. The "News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code" of Australia has amended after week-long talks with Facebook and Google, who have now agreed to pay the news companies for journalistic content on their (FB & Google) web pages.

The firms running news websites in the country were able to update their respective websites on Friday morning nine days after Facebook slapped a ban on news content, in disagreement with the Australian proposal over payment to news companies. The Morrison government however stressed the aforementioned amendments to the bargaining code and ruled that "a decision to designate a platform under the Code must take into account whether a digital platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry through reaching commercial agreements with news media businesses," the official website of Australian government reads.

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'Foster sustainable journalism in public interest'

The proposal by the government is aimed to allow two parties involving a digital platform and a publisher to enter commercial negotiations, outside Code, that is "a central feature of the framework that the government has put to foster sustainable journalism in the public interest," said Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

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Referring to a time limit set by the government for any digital platform to strike a deal with news firms in Australia, he said that "Final offer arbitration is a last resort where commercial deals cannot be reached by requiring mediation, in good faith, to occur prior to arbitration for no longer than two months."

Owing to norms regulated by the Morrison government, Google entered multi-million dollar content licensing deals with a few noted companies of Australia like the Nine Entertainment and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Facebook after a week-long protest on Friday released a statement that read: "We look forward to continuing to work with the industry to find the best ways to support news."

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Facebook announced that it will partner with select 'independent news media companies' including Schwartz Media, Solstice Media, and Private Media. Abiding by the new deals that follow specifications by the Australian government under the amended media Bargaining Code' — Facebook and Google have emerged as two of the world's largest profitable firms that curate, organise and index others' content.

Both global networking giants have revealed that they will invest close to $1 billion in new deals with news and media firms across the world, in the next three years, AFP reported on Friday.

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