CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Australian laws that compel Google and Facebook to pay for news are ready to go into effect, although the law architect said it will take time for digital giants to close deals with the media.
Parliament approved on Thursday the final amendments to the so-called News Media Trading Code, agreed between treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday.
In exchange for the changes, Facebook agreed to lift the ban on Australians accessing and sharing news.
Rod Sims, the competition regulator who drafted the code, said he was happy that the amended legislation resolved the market imbalance between Australian news publishers and the two Internet access portals.
“All signals are good,” Sims told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
“The purpose of the code is to address the market power that Google and Facebook clearly have. Google and Facebook need media, but they don’t need any particular media company, and that means media companies cannot make commercial deals, ”added the chairman of Australia’s Consumer and Competition Commission.
The rest of the laws were passed in Parliament before, so they can now be implemented.
Google has already struck deals with major Australian news companies in recent weeks, including News Corp. and Seven West Media.
Frydenberg said he was pleased with the progress of Google and, more recently, Facebook, in reaching business deals with Australian news companies.
But Country Press Australia, which represents 161 regional newspapers across the country, raised concerns that small publications outside major cities could be left out.
Sims said he was not surprised that the platforms closed deals with major companies in the city first.
“I see no reason for anyone to doubt that all journalism will benefit,” said Sims.
“Things take time there. Google and Facebook don’t have unlimited resources to talk to everyone. I think we still have a long way to go ”, he added.
Chris Moos, a professor at the Oxford University School of Business, said the latest amendments represented a “small victory” for Zuckerberg.
Moos said the legislation would likely result in small payments to most Australian news publishers. But Facebook can block Australian news again if negotiations fail.
The legislation was designed to contain the enormous bargaining power of Facebook and Google in their dealings with Australian news providers. The digital giants would not be able to abuse their positions by making pay-as-you-go offers for news companies for their journalism. Instead, in the event of a stalemate, an arbitration panel would make a binding decision on a winning bid.
Frydenberg and Facebook confirmed that the two sides agreed to changes to the proposed legislation. The changes would give digital platforms a month’s notice before they were formally designated under the code. This would give stakeholders more time to negotiate deals before they are forced to enter into binding arbitration deals.
A statement on Tuesday by Campbell Brown, Facebook’s vice president for news partnerships, added that the deal allows the company to choose which publishers to support, including small and local ones.
Frydenberg said his department will review the code within a year to “ensure that it is delivering results consistent with the government’s policy intent.”