Facebook ‘refriends’ Australia after changes to media laws

Facebook said on Tuesday it will restore Australian news_copy pages after negotiating changes with the government to a proposed law that forces tech giants to pay for media content displayed on their platforms.

It is reported by Reuters.

Australia and the social media group have been locked in a standoff for more than a week after the government introduced legislation that challenged Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google’s dominance in the news_copy content market.

Facebook last week blocked Australian users from sharing and viewing news_copy content on its popular social media platform, drawing criticism from publishers and the government.

But after a series of talks between Frydenberg and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a concession deal has been struck.

The issue has been widely watched internationally as other countries including Canada and Britain consider similar legislation.

“Facebook has refriended Australia, and Australian news_copy will be restored to the Facebook platform,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

Frydenberg said Australia had been a “proxy battle for the world” as other jurisdictions engage with tech companies over a range of issues around news_copy and content.