Google publisher deals in Australia, Facebook walks

Google is striking deals in Australia to pay for journalism, but Facebook is vowing to restrict news sharing, as Australian lawmakers consider forcing digital giants into payment agreements.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. announced a wide-ranging deal with Google on Wednesday. Major Australian media organization Seven West Media reached a deal earlier, its rival Nine Entertainment is reportedly close to its own pact and Australian Broadcasting Corp. is in negotiations.

But Facebook said it "will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content." The dominant social network blamed Australia's proposed law for its decision, and said the law "fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it."

"We're absolutely standing firm with the code. I had a constructive discussion this morning with Mark Zuckerberg and we've agreed to continue to work through some of the issues," said Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Thursday in Canberra.

Google is rushing to negotiate generous deals with big and small Australian media companies.

News Corp. said it would receive "significant payments" from Google in the three-year agreement, which includes heavyweight news organizations throughout the English-speaking world, such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the U.S., the Times and the Sun in the U.K., and the Australian and Sky News in Australia. The deal spans audio and video and News Corp. will also get an ad-revenue share from Google.

News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson thanked Australian officials in a statement, saying they "have stood firm for their country and for journalism."

Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg confirmed earlier Wednesday that state-owned Australian Broadcasting Corp. is also in negotiations and plans to spend any Google revenue on regional journalism.

Frydenberg said "none of these deals would be happening" if not for proposed legislation to create a so-called News Media Bargaining Code.

The Senate will consider the draft laws after they were passed by the House of Representatives late Wednesday.

The code would create an arbitration panel to set a binding price for news in cases where Google and Facebook fail to reach deals with media companies whose original journalism they link to.

Google and Facebook, which take a combined 81% of online advertising in Australia, have condemned the code as unworkable.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the government would not back down on its legislative agenda because of Facebook's reaction.

"Now the point I've simply made is the proposition that if Facebook were to operate in a mode where effectively all content from organisations where the fact-checking process, with employed journalists, with editorial policies, is not available on Facebook then that will surely overtime call into question the reliability of the information on the platform, and I'm sure that's something that they'll need to reflect on," Fletcher said on Thursday in Canberra.

Google did not provide the terms of its News Corp. deal Wednesday.

The Australian deals with Google are being negotiated under Google's own model, News Showcase. The company has reached pay deals with more than 450 publications globally since it launched News Showcase in October.