Australian news will be restored on Facebook following a series of intense negotiations, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced.
“Facebook has refriended Australia,” Treasurer Frydenberg said on Tuesday.
Facebook recently decided to ban Australian news content following escalating hostilities over the Australian government’s media bargaining code, which sought to force tech giants to pay Australian media outlets for using news content.
“Facebook has committed to entering into good faith negotiations with Australian news media businesses in seeking to reach agreements to pay for content,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“This follows a series of intensive negotiations with Facebook since their actions last Thursday.
“We have agreed to make some clarifications to the code”.
However, the treasurer also said, “absolutely critically, the code maintains its key measures – namely it’s a mandatory code, a world-leading code”.
“Secondly, it’s based on two-way value exchange.
“And third, it involved a final offer arbitration mechanism.
“I want to thank Mark Zuckerberg for the constructive nature of the discussions we have had over the course of recent days.
“It’s been a difficult process, but these are really important issues.”
