Facebook has reached an agreement with the Australian government and will restore news pages in the country days after restricting them.
The decision comes after negotiations between the tech giant and the Australian government, which is approved to pass a new media law that will force digital platforms to pay for the news.
“After further discussion, we are pleased that the Australian Government has accepted a number of changes and guarantees that address our core concerns about allowing trade agreements that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers in relation to the value we receive from them, “Facebook said in an updated statement.
The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has introduced last-minute changes to the proposed media bargaining code that is in Parliament and is expected to be enacted soon.
These changes include a two-month mediation period to allow digital platforms and publishers to negotiate agreements before they are allowed to enter arbitration as a last resort.
The arbitration clause of the media bargaining code has been one of Facebook’s main points of objection.
According to experts, the arbitrator will rule in favor of either party (the digital platform or the publisher) with no margin for an intermediate agreement.
According to the amendments, the Australian government will take into account the trade agreements already made by digital platforms such as Google and Facebook with local media companies before deciding whether the code applies to the technology giants.
The government will also warn digital platforms a month in advance before reaching the final decision.
The amendments are expected to provide “more clarity” to digital platforms and news organizations on how the bargaining code will be implemented, the government said.
– CNBC’s Will Koulouris contributed to this report.
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