Facebook News Is Back in the Outback
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) has settled its differences with the Australian government for the time being. The local news sites that were disabled last week are back online as lawmakers agreed to make some changes to the proposed News Media Bargaining Code.
The Media Bargaining law has been moving through the Australian lawmaking system since April 2020, ruffling a lot of feathers along the way. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has threatened to shut down Google Search services in Australia if the law is passed without significant changes. As written, the law requires payments to news media outlets before a handpicked group of online services including Facebook and Google would be able to publish links to their news articles.
Facebook took the next step and blocked Australian news content on its namesake platform last week. Today, the company said that it has reached an agreement with the Australian government. The Bargaining Code is getting some tweaks to address Facebook's core concerns, and Australian news postings are getting back on the site after an absence of approximately one week.
Source Fool.com
