Damn, just when I was enjoying it. Facebook has announced that it will restore Australian news pages within days. The social media giant has reached a deal with the Morrison government over Australia’s world-leading laws to regulate Big Tech.
So who blinked?
Well, both parties have given ground. This is to be expected as part of what former prime minister Kevin Rudd described as the standard “argy-bargy” of policy-making. But, in terms of losing face, it’s most likely Facebook who’ve been most embarrassed.
The social media platform was condemned by politicians around the world after it blocked 25 million Australians from viewing and sharing news articles on Thursday.
The ‘arrogant and disgraceful’ move – which also banned charity, health authority and emergency service pages – came after Australia’s ground-breaking news media bargaining code passed the lower house of Parliament on Wednesday night.
It should be borne in mind that the laws were supported by all the major Australian political parties and also that Facebook has already reached a similar deal with the UK government. So this wasn’t a case of partisan political dealing, nor was Facebook’s brinkmanship an irresolvable line in the sand.
As soon as the announcement was made, Facebook bosses sent emails to media executives saying the company will restart negotiations over payment for news content after talks stalled.
Australia’s new law aims to tackle the huge power imbalance between big tech and media companies by forcing selected digital platforms to pay for the news content they host and reveal some of their closely-guarded algorithms and data.
Amendments announced on Tuesday include a requirement for the government to give a digital platform a month’s notice before applying the code to that company.
Another clause states the Treasurer must also take into account deals already done when deciding which platforms to designate under the code.
This recognises the reality that Google has already reached an agreement with some of Australia’s biggest media companies.
One of the key amendments is aimed at curbing unreasonable ambit claims from media companies.
Another amendment will make clear that final-offer arbitration will only be required after two months of good-faith negotiations between a platform and a news business.
This method of arbitration, which selects one side’s position as the resolution, was one of Facebook and Google’s key grievances because they said it incentivised news companies to make outlandish claims in the hope their position will be selected.
‘These amendments will provide further clarity to digital platforms and news media businesses about the way the code is intended to operate and strengthen the framework for ensuring news media businesses are fairly remunerated,’ Mr Frydenberg said[…]
The world-first code states that if a negotiation breaks down then an independent umpire will step in and decide the fee based on a ‘final offer’ method, which chooses one side’s position as the resolution.
The agreement is a very big deal for the Australian government.
Australia’s battle with Big Tech is being keenly watched by governments across the world, not least in London, Washington DC and Brussels, where concerns have been raised over the ‘advertising duopoly’ of Google and Facebook[…]
The Code was intended to apply to Facebook NewsFeed and Google Search – but other services such as Instagram and YouTube can be added if a bargaining power imbalance arises.
Daily Mail
The consequences of this deal will be almost certainly reverberate around the world. Australia will be seen to have taken on the world-dominating social media giant and forced them to the negotiating table. The Australian government might not have forced an unconditional surrender from Facebook, but then, big policy initiatives almost never proceed without negotiation and amendment.
The best Facebook can claim is an honourable draw – and even that’s a massive concession from the Big Tech titans who’ve so far apparently regarded themselves above such footling things as democratic governance or national sovereignty.
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