Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Facebook is negotiating with the government again after the technology platform decided to restrict users to Australia for sharing news content.
“What pleases me is that Facebook has returned to the table. And that’s what we want to see, “Morrison said at a news conference Saturday morning, local time.” We want to work on this issue. ”.
The company “has made us friends again provisionally,” he joked.
The comments mark the latest development of a back-and-forth between Sydney and Facebook on a bill that would make the platform pay publishers for content.
Facebook announced this week that it would reduce the ability of Australian publishers to share or post content on their pages and limit Australian users from viewing or sharing links and posts from international publishers.
Morrison came out against the proposal and urged Facebook to reverse its decision.
“The idea of closing down the kind of places they did yesterday, as a kind of threat, well, I know how Australians react to that and I thought it wasn’t a good move on their part,” Morrison said. Friday.
“Those actions were completely indefensible,” he added on Saturday.
The implications of the law on Australia’s relations with major technology platforms draw the attention of lawmakers in other countries studying their own regulatory measures.
Although Facebook took a stern stance against the law, Google struck deals with Australia-based News Corp and Seven West Media for the content.