Murdoch's News Corp reaches three-year deal with Facebook in Australia

[BENGALURU] News Corp reached a three-year agreement with Facebook Inc in Australia, the Rupert Murdoch-controlled media company said on Monday, declaring victory in a battle over how news organizations are compensated by big tech.

Last month, Australia's parliament passed a law requiring Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc to pay media companies for using their content, after robust negotiations during which Facebook chose to block news content in the 13th-largest economy.

The step taken by the Australian government has drawn global attention as countries including Canada and Britain consider similar steps to protect local news media.

"The agreement with Facebook is a landmark in transforming the terms of trade for journalism, and will have a material and meaningful impact on our Australian news businesses," News Corp chief executive officer Robert Thomson said.

"This digital denouement has been more than a decade in the making." News Corp in February struck a deal with Google to develop a subscription platform, share advertising revenue and develop video journalism by YouTube.

The Facebook agreement announced on Monday involves News Corp's The Australian national newspaper, and metropolitan papers such as The Daily Telegraph in New South Wales. Sky News Australia has also reached a new agreement with Facebook, News Corp said.

The deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, expands upon an agreement reached in October, 2019 in which Facebook paid News Corp's US publications for access to additional stories to Facebook News.

"We are committed to bringing Facebook News to Australia," Andrew Hunter, Facebook's head of news partnerships for Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement, highlighting the deals with News Corp and Sky News Australia.

REUTERS