New Delhi: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday discussed his government’s media legislation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that would make Facebook and Google pay in lump sums to publishers rather than per click on news article links.<\/p>\n
The two premiers talked earlier in the day and discussed working on common challenges.<\/p>\n
“Great to talk to my good friend PM @narendramodi again. As Comprehensive Strategic Partners, we can work together on common challenges incl #COVID19, the circular economy, oceans & an open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n
“We also discussed the progress of our media platform bill,” Morrison said on Twitter after their discussion.<\/p>\n
Morrison has called for curbing Facebook’s influence after the company banned Australians from accessing some news content on the social media platform in response to the government’s proposed media bargaining code.<\/p>\n
<\/ins><\/ins><\/ins>In a post on Facebook on Thursday, Morrison vowed that his government would not be “intimidated” by the move.<\/p>\n Morrisson stated, “Facebook’s actions to unfriend Australia today, cutting off essential information services on health and emergency services, were as arrogant as they were disappointing.”<\/p>\n Morrison added, “These actions will only confirm the concerns that an increasing number of countries are expressing about the behavior of BigTech companies who think they are bigger than governments and that the rules should not apply to them.”<\/p>\n “We will not be intimidated by BigTech seeking to pressure our Parliament as it votes on our important News Media Bargaining Code.”<\/p>\n Under the media bargaining code, technology giants including Facebook and Google would be forced to pay Australian news outlets for their content.<\/p>\n The lower house of the Australian parliament, the House of Representatives, passed the legislation on Wednesday night, paving the way for the Senate to pass it into law.<\/p>\n The Morrison government hopes to enact the so-called “News Media Bargaining Code” before the current session of parliament ends on February 25.<\/p>\n