Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) disclosed that it has decided to lift the ban on Australian news from its platform. The social media giant has also declared that it has signed a commercial agreement with three small local publishers.
Facebook Inc has earlier banned the news pages of non-profit charities, political pages, and also the government pages of Australia. FB has put a ban on the Australian news content from its platform after the Australian government has made it compulsory for FB and GOOGL to pay for the news content on their platform.
Previously, FB has faced fierce backlash for banning Australian news content from its platform. After announcing the new law, Australia has become the first state to implement the law which forced FB and GOOGL to pay for the content of domestic media on their platform. Other countries such as Canada have also shown interest in implementing Australia's amendments.
Australian PM Scott Morrison commented that there is no doubt in saying that Global tech giants are transforming the world, but we can’t allow them to run the world. FB has not disclosed the terms of the contract it has signed with local publishers of Australia.
On Tuesday, FB has reached a deal with Seven West Media, which holds a free-to-air television network and the main metropolitan newspaper in the city of Perth. The Australian Broadcasting Corp has revealed that it was also in discussion with Facebook.
Furthermore, GOOGL has made deal with several editors including News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) as the bill reached parliament. FB took the more extreme step of delaying all news content in Australia.