SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook said on Monday that they have signed an agreement with the Australian government that will allow users and publishers in the country to share and view links to news reports on the social network.
Facebook blocked the sharing or viewing of news links in Australia last week because the country would pass a law requiring technology companies to negotiate with media publishers and compensate them for the content that appears on their websites.
The legislation contains a code of conduct that enables media companies to negotiate individually or jointly with digital platforms about the value of their news content.
But the Australian government on Monday added amendments to the proposed code. This included a mediation period of two months, which gave the two parties more time to negotiate. commercial transactions that can help Facebook not to have to work under the terms of the code.
In return, Facebook agreed to restore news links and articles for Australian users ‘in the coming days’, according to a statement from Josh Frydenberg, the Treasurer of Australia, and Paul Fletcher, the Minister of Communications, Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts. .
“It is important that the changes strengthen the hand of local and small publishers to receive appropriate compensation for the use of their content through the digital platforms,” the statement added.
Campbell Brown, Facebook’s vice president of global news partnerships, said in a statement: ‘We’re restoring the news on Facebook in Australia in the coming days. The government has stated in advance that we will retain the ability to decide whether news will appear on Facebook, so that we will not be automatically subjected to a forced negotiation. ‘
Mike Isaac reports from San Francisco, and Damien Cave from Sydney, Australia.
This is an evolving story and will be updated.