[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] With the negotiation on news content usage fees between Facebook and the Australian government reaching an agreement, Facebook's news service will resume in Australia. This agreement is expected to make Australia the first country in the world to legally require digital platforms to pay for news content usage.
According to the Australian daily The Australian on the 23rd, Josh Frydenberg, Australia's Treasurer, announced that he decided to partially amend the contents of the 'Media Bargaining Code' currently being legislated, leading to an agreement with Facebook to resume the news service.
The bill included provisions that would compel major digital platform companies such as Google and Facebook to pay fees for news content usage. If negotiations between digital platform operators and news content providers fail, the usage fees would be determined through compulsory arbitration.
Facebook had opposed the legislation from the beginning and even suspended its news service in Australia on the 17th. Particularly, Facebook unilaterally blocked essential pages such as emergency services, weather, and health, which drew public criticism. Since then, Facebook users have been unable to view or share news content posted by Australian media, and especially Facebook users in Australia cannot see news posted by overseas media.
In contrast, Google continued negotiations with Australian media over news usage fees and achieved considerable results.
According to the amendment announced that day, a two-month negotiation period must be completed before compulsory adjustment of news content usage fees, allowing commercial agreements to be reached between digital platform companies and media outlets. Essentially, the provisions forcing platform companies to pay news content usage fees were softened, and the agreement encourages voluntary negotiations between platform companies and media outlets.
Minister Frydenberg stated that, following the agreement, "Facebook has informed us that it will restore its news service pages in Australia within days." Since major Australian political parties support the amendment, it is expected to pass smoothly in parliament within this week. If this bill passes, Australia will become the first country to require digital platforms such as Facebook and Google to pay media outlets for news content usage.
The dispute between the Australian government and Facebook has also attracted attention from other countries, as it could set a precedent regarding compensation for local news usage on social media platforms. Last week, Canada announced plans to enact a similar law to Australia's, and the UK government is also expected to soon release new regulations related to news content usage on social media.
William Easton, head of Facebook Australia and New Zealand, said, "The Australian government agreed to several amendments and assurances addressing our concerns that the commercial agreement should recognize the benefits Facebook provides to media outlets compared to the benefits it gains from them." He added, "As a result, Facebook can expand its investment in public-interest journalism, and the news service in Australia will be able to resume within days."
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