The new code, which was approved by the Australian Parliament on Thursday, “will ensure that news media companies are reasonably compensated for the content they generate,” Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a statement.
Facebook even shut down newspapers in Australia last week in violation of the law. But it recovered earlier this week after the country made some changes to the code, including a provision that ‘should consider whether a digital platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry through commercial reach agreements with news media. businesses. “
Arbitration will meanwhile only be used as a ‘last resort’ after a period of ‘good faith’ mediation.
Facebook said after the revisions were made, the new agreement would make it possible to “support the publishers we choose”. It later revealed an agreement with the major Australian news company Seven West Media.
The Australian government has said the code will be reviewed by the Treasury Department after a year to ensure it delivers results that are in line with the government’s policy intent.