Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has said he met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over plans to force tech giants to pay for news sourced from local media outlets, but the Facebook chief executive and founder was unable to shift the position of the leaders.
Mr Frydenberg said he and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher met with Mr Zuckerberg last week after the Facebook chief executive “reached out” to the ministers to discuss the matter in more detail.
Facebook wants to post without paying
But the facebook founder was unable to move the Government’s position on the code. It has been alleged by insiders the stance is being pushed by the Murdoch empire, who has a strong alliance with his home government,
“Mark Zuckerberg didn’t convince me to back down, if that’s what you are asking,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Facebook and Google make Threats
Facebook has threatened to remove Australians’ ability to post news content to its platforms if the Federal Government doesn’t back down on the proposed code, which was introduced to Parliament in December.
The code was tabled following years of complaints from traditional media outlets that social media platforms benefit from the work of journalists without compensation.
Google and Facebook continue to argue that media organisations benefit from referrals and clicks through to their websites. In light of this Google has threatened to stop making its search engine available in Australia altogether.
Tech giants have taken so much control of media online that governments are concerned they could sway election results whilst manipulating algorithms in the favour of there preferred candidates.
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