Australia’s demand for Facebook and Google to pay news outlets for content could be copied around the world as Scott Morrison has ‘promising talks’ with India, France, UK and Canada
- Scott Morrison said other countries are likely to follow Australia’s proposed code
- His comments came after Facebook banned Australian news on its platform
- The move is a response to the country’s proposed media bargaining code
Scott Morrison says other countries could follow Australia and introduce media bargaining laws in the wake of Facebook’s news ban – and reveals he’s already having promising discussions with other world leaders.
The prime minister’s comments came after the social media giant banned Australian news from its platform from Thursday in response to the proposed media bargaining code.
The law would force tech companies including Facebook and Google to negotiate with news providers to feature their content.
Facebook’s move to ban Australian news contrasts with Google, which in recent days has brokered deals with Nine, Seven and News Corp, in response to the regulatory push.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says other countries could follow Australia and introduce media bargaining laws – as he floats forcing Facebook to pay more tax
Mr Morrison said he applauded Google for the way they have ‘engaged’ and ‘respected’ the process – after the search-engine flagged concerns early on.
‘But I would just say to Facebook, this is Australia you want to do business here you work according to our rules, and that’s a reasonable proposition,’ he said.
‘We’re happy to listen to them on on the technical issues of this, just like we listened to Google and came to a sensible arrangement.
‘But the idea of shutting down the sort of sites they did yesterday as some sort of threat.’
The prime minister was asked whether he expected to receive international support from other nations following Facebook’s controversial ban.
Mr Morrison said he spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday about the issue, among other world leaders including Canadian leader Justin Trudeau.
He said the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and France’s Emmanuel Macron were also monitoring the issue closely.
Mr Morrison’s comments came after the social media giant banned Australian news from on its platform from Thursday in response to the proposed media bargaining code. Pictured: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
‘People are looking at what Australia is doing,’ he said.
‘I’ve had these exchanges also with Prime Minister Trudeau, and I know Prime Minister Johnson is very interested.
‘I’ve spoken to President Macron about these things, in the same way we talk about that they should pay tax too. And we discuss that a lot.’
Mr Morrison said he invites Google and Facebook to constructively engage with Australia’s proposition as he expects other Western jurisdictions to swiftly follow.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg remains determined to convince Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to accept the Australian government’s media bargaining code.
The pair spoke on Friday morning and will talk again over the weekend.
‘We talked through their remaining issues and agreed our respective teams would work through them immediately,’ Mr Frydenberg said.
‘I reiterated Australia remains committed to implementing the code.’
Facebook has banned publishers and users in Australia from posting news content