The new code, which the Australian parliament approved on Thursday, “will ensure that news media companies are fairly remunerated for the content they generate,” Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a statement.
Facebook even closed news pages in Australia last week in opposition to the legislation. But she restored them earlier this week, after the country made some changes to the code, including a clause that “should take into account whether a digital platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of the Australian news industry through trade agreements with the news media companies. “
Arbitration, however, will now only be used as a “last resort” after a period of “good faith” mediation.
Facebook later said that these reviews were made that the new agreement would allow “to support the publishers we choose”. It later revealed an agreement with the big Australian news company, Seven West Media.
The Australian government said the code will be reviewed by the Treasury Department after a year to “ensure that it is delivering results consistent with the government’s policy intent”.