Facebook, which follows in Google’s footsteps, says it plans to invest $ 1 billion to support the news industry over the next three years.
The social networking giant, which has been arguing with Australia over a law that would make social platforms pay for news organizations, said it had invested $ 600 million in news since 2018.
Google said in October that it would pay publishers $ 1 billion over the next three years.
News companies want Google and Facebook to pay for the news that appears on their platforms. Governments in Europe and Australia are increasingly sympathetic to this view. The two technology companies are sucking up the majority of US digital advertising dollars, which – among other problems – has hurt publishers.
Facebook said on Tuesday it would lift a ban on news links in Australia after the government agreed to amend proposed legislation that would help publishers negotiate payments with Facebook and Google. Facebook has been criticized for its ban, which has also temporarily reduced access to the government’s pandemic, public health and emergency services on the social networking site.
Facebook said on Tuesday that the changes make it possible to choose which publishers it will support, and has indicated that they will now start such transactions in Australia.
Google has already signed content licensing agreements with Australian media companies and says it has arrangements with more than 50 publishers in the country and more than 500 worldwide.
There may be more such regulations in other countries. Microsoft is working with European publishers to launch major technology platforms to pay for news. European countries are working on adopting copyright rules that allow news companies and publishers to negotiate payments.