A new era in trade for journalism kicks in as social media giant, Facebook signs an agreement with News Corporation to pay for content in Australia.
At the onset of the pandemic, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission drafted the legislation aimed at addressing the market imbalance between Australian news publishers and Internet giants Facebook and Google -- serving as gateways to the information superhighway.
In less than a year, just last February 2021, the Australian government passed a controversial world-first law (known as the News Media Bargaining Code or News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) making tech companies and platforms like Facebook and Google pay for news content in the continent.
This week, according to several sources, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation and Facebook agreed to a three-year deal where the social media company will pay for news content in Australia at an undisclosed amount. Earlier this year, News Corp also landed a global deal for a similar arrangement with Google.
News Corp owns The Sun, The Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Australian.
The Australian government said that the legislation will pave the way for "fairer" contract negotiations between media and tech companies.
Now, shall we see similar laws and deals happening in the Philippines anytime soon? What’s your take on this new Australian law?