Media companies are under pressure to commit to using the money sealed through landmark deals with Google and Facebook to invest in newsrooms.
Silicon Valley billionaire Mark Zuckerberg had to choose whether to take a deal or go to war. He took the deal.
Many readers support the media companies’ push for recompense for use of their content. Others,however,questioned why the government and media companies were demanding the social media companies pay up.
This could be a disaster Mr Zuckerberg lives to regret. Facebook’s response to Australia’s proposed law to pay for news content may prompt others to stand up to the tech giant.
News organisations around the world are hailing the passing of new laws to force Facebook and Google into commercial agreements with media companies.
That Facebook has backed down on its news blockade and is doing deals with news organisations does not address the fundamental problem:the genius of its advertising model is that it has an unconscionable amount of data on its users. And governments aren’t doing a thing about it.
The deals Google and Facebook have struck to pay for news in Australia are likely to be a model for the world.
Facebook’s brief but tempestuous standoff with the Australian government over a world-first pay-for-news law is only the start of a string of battles that the world’s biggest social network faces in 2021.
Australia’s competition boss Rod Sims says the federal government has emerged the victor in its battle with Facebook and Google
Josh Frydenberg says he believes Facebook will seal commercial deals with local media companies following ‘complex and difficult’ negotiations with the tech giant’s boss,Mark Zuckerberg.
The amendment to the Australian bill which would have forced Facebook to make blanket payments for news content it features kicks the can down the road for a couple more months.