Facebook's
abrupt decision to stop Australians from sharing news on the site and strip the
pages of domestic and foreign news outlets also erased several state government
and emergency department accounts, causing widespread anger.
The company
has "tentatively friended us again," Morrison told a news conference
in Sydney. "What I'm pleased about it that Facebook is back at the table
again."
Facebook
has publicly indicated no change in its opposition to a proposed law requiring
social media platforms to pay for links to news content. Morrison was not asked
about that.
Australia's
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Friday he had spoken with Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg and further talks were expected over the weekend. It was not clear
whether those talks have happened.
A Facebook
spokeswoman and representatives for Frydenberg did not immediately respond to
requests for comment.
The
stand-off comes as Australia's vows to press ahead with the landmark
legislation, which could set a global precedent as countries like Canada
express interest in taking similar action.
The
Australian law, which would force Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google to reach
commercial deals with Australian publishers or face compulsory arbitration, has
cleared the lower house of parliament and is expected to be passed by the
Senate within the next week.
Simon
Milner, Facebook’s Asia-Pacific policy director of policy for the Asia-Pacific
region, was quoted on Saturday as telling the Sydney Morning Herald the company
had three main objections to the legislation.
Facebook objects to being barred from discriminating between
different news outlets that ask for money, to arbitration models that allow an
independent body to select one payment over another, and to the obligation to enter
commercial negotiations with Australian media companies, Milner said.
Facebook declined to make Milner available to speak with
Reuters.
Australia's legislation is being widely watched overseas.
Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said on Thursday
his country would adopt the Australian approach as it crafts its own
legislation in coming months.
Google, which has initially threatened to close its search
engine in Australia, has announced host of preemptive licensing deals over the
past week, including a global agreement with News Corp.
Facebook's move had an immediate impact on traffic to
Australian new sites, according to early data from New York-based analytics
firm Chartbeat.
Total traffic to the Australian news sites from various
platforms fell from the day before the ban by around 13% within the country.
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