A law forcing Google and Facebook to pay for news is ready to take effect in Australia, though the laws’ architect says it will take time for the digital giants to strike media deals.
The country's Parliament has passed the final amendments to the so-called News Media Bargaining Code agreed with Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg earlier this week.
In return for the changes, Facebook agreed to lift a ban on Australians accessing and sharing news.
Rod Sims, the competition regulator who drafted the code, said he was satisfied the amended legislation would address a market imbalance between Australian news publishers and tech giants.
“All signs are good. The purpose of the code is to address the market power that clearly Google and Facebook have. Google and Facebook need media, but they don’t need any particular media company, and that meant media companies couldn’t do commercial deals,” said Mr Sims.
Google has already struck deals with major Australian news businesses in recent weeks including News Corp and Seven West Media.
But Country Press Australia, which represents 161 regional newspapers across the country, has raised concerns that tiny publications outside large cities might miss out.
Mr Sims said he was not surprised the platforms would strike deals with large city businesses first.
He added: “I don’t see any reason why anybody should doubt that all journalism will benefit. These things take time. Google and Facebook don’t have unlimited resources to go around talking to everybody. I think this has got a long way to play out."
Chris Moos, a lecturer at Oxford University’s Business School, said the latest amendments amounted to a “small victory” for Mr Zuckerberg.
Mr Moos said the legislation would likely result in small payouts for most Australian news publishers. But Facebook could again block Australian news if negotiations broke down.
The legislation was designed to curb the outsized bargaining power of Facebook and Google in their negotiations with Australian news providers.
