SYDNEY (AUSTRALIA) – Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison vowed on Friday to go ahead with laws to force Facebook Inc to pay news outlets for content. Morrison, who blasted Facebook on its own platform for “unfriending” Australia, said on Friday the leaders of Britain, Canada, France and India had shown support.
“There is a lot of world interest in what Australia is doing,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
“That is why I invite … Facebook to constructively engage because they know that what Australia will do here is likely to be followed by many other Western jurisdictions.”
Facebook took down pages of domestic and foreign news outlets for Australians and blocked users of its platform from sharing any news content on Thursday. The social media giant said it was left with no choice ahead of the new content laws.
The take down also erased several state government and emergency department accounts, as well as nonprofit charity sites, caused widespread outrage.
The Australian law, which will force Facebook and Google to reach commercial deals with Australian publishers or face compulsory arbitration, has already been cleared by the federal lower house and is expected to be passed by the Senate within the next week.
Facebook and Alphabet Inc owned Google had campaigned together against the laws with both threatening to withdraw key services from Australia if the laws took effect.
Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said late on Thursday his country would adopt the Australian approach as it crafts its own legislation in coming months.