While Facebook has announced deals with most of the
country's largest news outlets, some companies including TV broadcaster SBS and
smaller publishers have been left out in the cold, raising questions about the
scope and effectiveness of the ground-breaking law.
Australia is the only country with a law where the
government may set the fees if negotiations between tech giants and news
providers fail, but the rejected companies are left with little recourse for
the time being and are waiting for the government to review the law in 2022 as
planned.
Facebook's regional head of news partnerships, Andrew
Hunter, said in an August email to publishers it had "now concluded"
deals where it would pay Australian companies for content on its just-launched
"Facebook News" channel.
Nick Shelton, founder of Broadsheet Media, a website which
publishes entertainment news, reviews and listings and was rebuffed by
Facebook, said the decision to close off on new deals was "clearly an
attempt from Facebook to cap their exposure to independent publishers."
The Special Broadcasting Service, or SBS, one of Australia's
five national free-to-air broadcasters and the country's main source of foreign
language news, said Facebook declined to enter negotiations despite months of
attempts and that it was surprised and disappointed. It noted it had
successfully concluded a deal with Google.
"This outcome is at odds with the Government's
intention of supporting public interest journalism, and in particular including
the public service broadcasters in the Code framework with respect to
remuneration," an SBS spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hunter said in the email to publishers, which has not been
made public, that rejected publishers would continue to benefit from clicks
directed from Facebook and recommended they tap a new series of industry
grants.
In a separate statement to Reuters, Hunter said content
deals were "just one of the ways that Facebook provides support to
publishers, and we've been having ongoing discussions with publishers about the
types of news content that can best deliver value for publishers and for
Facebook".
Facebook did not respond directly to questions about the
statements from Broadsheet Media and SBS.
The US social media giant has inked deals with a range of
large Australian big media companies including News Corp and the Australian
Broadcasting Corp and has a collective bargaining arrangement with rural
publishers. But only a handful of independent and smaller publishers have
reached deals.
Other rejected publishers include the Conversation, which
publishes public affairs commentary by academics, Reuters has previously
reported. That prompted a rebuke from the regulator which drafted the law. The
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission declined to comment on
Wednesday.
Under the law, which drove Facebook to block third-party
content on newsfeeds briefly in the country in February, Facebook and Google
must negotiate with news outlets for content that drives traffic to their
websites or face possible government intervention.
But before there can be any government intervention, the
federal treasurer must determine that either Facebook or Google failed to
negotiate in good faith, a step known as "designation". A
representative for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was not immediately available for
comment.
Facebook's rejection of SBS and the Conversation flies in
the face of law's core proposition that it "should be required to
compensate public interest journalism", said Peter Lewis, director of the
Centre for Responsible Technology, a think tank.
"The treasurer has no alternative but to revisit
designating Facebook to ensure that it meets its commitments to public interest
journalism in Australia."
© Reuters