On Monday, Facebook said that it would restore sharing and viewing of news links in Australia. This restoration comes after Facebook was given more time to negotiate a proposed law that would require it to pay for news content on the site. After this proposed law neared passage last week, Facebook blocked news links in Australia, fearing the legislation would increase its spending for content and set a precedent for other governments.
A few amendments to the code, including that Facebook would have more time to cut deals with publishers and not be immediately forced into making payments, Facebook returned to negotiations. Another amendment states the media companies can avoid the code entirely should they significantly contribute to the Australian news industry. After blocking the news, false or misleading pages filled the void left by the news last week. Google and Facebook both balked at the legislation code, however Google began striking deals with media companies in recent weeks.
Read more: Facebook Strikes Deal to Restore News Sharing in Australia
