Facebook reaches agreement with Murdoch media in Australia
Against the backdrop of the controversial media law in Australia, Facebook and News Corp have reached an agreement on content payment.
"The agreement with Facebook is a milestone in shaping the framework for journalism and will have a significant and meaningful impact on our Australian news businesses," News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said Tuesday.
The deal would give Facebook's 17 million users in the country "access to premium news articles and breaking news in video form across News Corp's network of newsrooms from all cities and rural areas," according to Andrew Hunter, Facebook's head of news partnerships in Australia. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's company and the social media giant did not disclose further details of the agreement.
In Australia, a new law now requires Internet platforms to pay for media content that brings users and advertising revenue to their platforms.
Facebook in particular had sharply criticized the regulations. The dispute had escalated when the world's largest Internet network had blocked all media links as well as several authority and disaster pages (Werbewoche.ch reported).
Australia is the first country to pass a law of this kind. Around the globe, governments have been looking for ways to curb the influence of the US technology giants for years. (SDA)
