Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has been trying to resist new regulations requiring it and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to pay to show content, but now it has bowed to pressure. The social networking giant reached an agreement with News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) to show its content in Australia.
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Facebook reaches agreement with News Corp
The agreement between the two companies will last three years, and it includes The Australian, News Corp Australia's national newspaper, and news.com.au. It also includes some newspapers in major metropolitan areas, like New South Wales' Daily Telegraph, Victoria's Herald Sun, Queensland's Courier-Mail, and community and regional publications.
News Corp Australia also owns Sky News Australia, which has become the most-shared news brand on Facebook in Australia, according to the BBC. News Corp hasn't revealed how much Facebook will be paying over the next three years. The company controls approximately 70% of the newspapers in Australia.
News Corp already had a deal with Facebook in the U.S. for its Facebook News tab, which isn't available in Australia. The social network pays for stories to include on the News tab.
Not the first deal in Australia
The deal between Facebook and News Corp comes weeks after Australian lawmakers passed a law requiring tech platforms to pay for news content. News Corp also struck a deal with Alphabet's Google last month and another with Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) recently.
News publishers worldwide have lost a lot of revenue over the last 10 years as advertisers moved their payments to internet giants like Facebook and Google. The companies argue that they enable users to locate news articles and help drive traffic back to news sites, assisting publishers in the process. However, publishers say that by posting news content, tech platforms are pulling away both viewers and advertising money from them.
News Corp led a lobbying campaign in Australia as news publishers, traditionally rivals, united to convince politicians to work on legislation calling for "fairer" contract negotiations between tech firms and media companies. The News Media Bargaining Code calls on tech companies to reach commercial deals with news outlets individually. Without such agreements, the law could force tech companies to arbitrate with publishers over what their content is worth.
Facebook is part of the Entrepreneur Index, which tracks 60 of the largest publicly traded companies managed by their founders or their founders' families. Founder Mark Zuckerberg has been CEO of the company since it was founded years ago.
