Photographer: David Gray / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Gray / Bloomberg
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The Australian government has said Google and Facebook Inc. closer agreements to pay domestic media companies for news, in a sign can mitigate a legal backlog.
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg held talks over the weekend with Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook, and Sundar Pichai of Google. “We are very close to a very important commercial transaction,” Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday, according to a transcript sent by his office. “We have made great progress.”
Google and Facebook, provided by Alphabet Inc. owned is against the planned Australian law that forces them to pay media companies for news, and Google has threatened to shut down its search engine if the law is enacted. Parliament will consider the legislation this week and give the internet giants an incentive to impose compensation conditions on news companies before the law is passed.
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Facebook declined to comment on specific conversations. “We have entered into discussions with the Australian Government to highlight our concerns about the legislation,” the company said in a statement. A Google spokesperson declined to comment.
If Facebook and Google fail to reach an agreement, Australia’s pay-for-news legislation could set an example for regulators in other areas of law, including Canada and the European Union, which are following the dispute.
Google proposes to compensate publishers through its News Showcase product, under which the media pays for composite content, rather than being bound by law. Seven West Media Ltd., publisher of The West Australian, said on Monday it agreed to provide news for Showcase under a long-term partnership.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian government is prepared to let the technology companies avoid paying for news snippets if the media companies sign to Google Showcase and Facebook News.
News Corp and Herald Publisher Nine Entertainment Co. has not yet joined Google Showcase.