Australia’s government made significant progress to resolve a standoff over proposed legislation which would require Facebook and Google to agree payment terms with local publishers to use their content, Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg held discussions with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief Sundar Pichai, telling the broadcaster a number of agreements to pay local media companies were “very close”.
Frydenberg said there were “many eyes across the world” focused on the outcome of the landmark regulation, which the government said aims to address an imbalance in power between digital platforms and news media businesses.
A senate committee recommended no changes to the proposed law at a meeting last week, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said in a statement.
Parliament is scheduled to debate the legislation this week.
The US-headquartered companies have resisted the law, with Google introducing a news platform in Australia earlier this month offering licensed content from a range of publishers.
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