Facebook agreed on Tuesday to lift its controversial news ban in Australia after the government said it would make a change to a law that would force the tech giant to pay for media content.
“As a result of these changes, we can now work to boost our investment in public interest journalism and restore news on Facebook for Australians in the coming days,” said Will Easton, CEO of Facebook Australia.
“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Australian government and are grateful for the constructive discussions we have had,” Easton added.
The compromise means that Facebook and the other main target of the law, Google, are unlikely to be penalized as long as they reach some agreements with local media companies to pay for the news.
Last week, the social media giant was outraged when it issued the news ban after the House of Representatives approved the News Media Negotiation Code, which would force Facebook and Google to negotiate with media companies. communication that produce content shared on their platforms.
Facebook has vehemently opposed the proposed law, saying it “ignores the realities” of its relationship with publishers who use its service to “share news content.”
Some pages of the Australian government and emergency services were also accidentally rubbed in the middle of the ban, which increased the fury.
With publishing cables