Facebook and News Corp Strikes Payments for Australian Content Agreement

MELBOURNE, Australia – Facebook has agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for its press content in Australia, a month after the social media platform temporarily blocked news links in the country because of laws forcing guys Digital giants have to compensate publishers.

The multi-year deal, announced Tuesday, includes news content from Murdoch’s major conservative media such as The Australian, a national newspaper and news.com.au news site, as well as other community, regional, and municipal publications.

Comes a month after Google announced its own three-year global deal with News Corp to pay for publisher news content and after Facebook stepped back, heavily criticized, from a drastic step block sharing or viewing news links in Australia. .

A few details, including how much Facebook will pay News Corp for the content, have been announced.

In a statement on Tuesday, Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp, said the deal, which he called a “turning point”, would “have a significant and meaningful impact on private businesses. Our Australia. “

News Corp leader Thomson added, was “leading a global debate” as the rise of digital giants has impoverished the news industry. With the deal, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and his team, he said, helped “create a future for journalism, which is in so much trouble.”

However, critics say the deal does not guarantee the type of public interest journalism touted by the Australian government when it proposed legislation, passed last month.

“There is no guarantee that the public will benefit,” said Tanya Notley, senior lecturer in communications at Western Sydney University. translates with Facebook who are conservative and consistent with the current government.

Others say it continues to underline the limitless power of social media companies to control news and public information. “They are news protectors for public consumers,” said Marc Cheong, who studies digital ethics at the University of Melbourne.

In a statement, Facebook said the agreements would give people access to breaking news articles and videos from a network of national, urban, rural and suburban newsrooms.

“We are committed to bringing Facebook News to Australia,” said Andrew Hunter, Facebook’s head of partnerships in Australia and New Zealand.

It was a distinctly different tone to the tone the tech giant hit in February, when Facebook blocked news in Australia.

At the time, William Easton, chief executive of Facebook Australia and New Zealand, said of Australia’s draft law, “The proposed law fundamentally misinterpreted the relationship between our platform and the publishers. Edition uses it to share news content. “

While the Australian government has pointed out the consolidation of digital ad spend in companies like Google and Facebook, tech giants say they benefit news firms by promoting traffic to their website.

Facebook has also announced preliminary payment arrangements with independent news organizations including Private Media, Schwartz Media and Solstice Media. But so far it has only solidified deals with News Corp and Seven West Media, another major conservative news company.

Sky News Australia, also owned by Mr. Murdoch, has renewed an existing deal with Facebook.