Historical legislation by the Morrison government requiring Google and Facebook to pay for news on their platforms has passed parliament after amendments were won by the digital giants.
Social media giant Facebook has announced it will soon reverse its ban on news pages in Australia after discussions with the Morrison government resulted in changes to the mandatory arbitration requirements found in the proposed Australian media bargaining code.
The TGA has ordered former senator and vet David Leyonhjelm to take down misleading tweets spruiking a medication used to treat parasite infestations in horses as “probably the most economical source” to treat COVID-19.
The chair of the ACCC says that while it has made concessions in response to complaints from Google and Facebook about its proposed media bargaining code, it won’t budge on the final offer arbitration model which would be used to resolve disputes with media companies under the code.
Tech giants Google and Facebook have come under fire in a Senate inquiry for their “threats” to block news in Australia if a draft media bargaining code proposed by the ACCC is passed without any amendments.
Facebook and Google should not be expected to solve the challenges currently facing the Australian media industry, according to the social media giant, which has called on the government to address concentration in the media market.
The ACCC is considering taking legal action against Google after the search giant completed its $3 billion acquisition of fitness device company FitBit before the consumer watchdog could finish its investigation into the transaction.
Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram have lost a bid to shut down a lawsuit brought by an Australian social media startup, with a judge finding the digital giants relinquished their right to move the dispute to California.
The consumer watchdog has launched enforcement action against Facebook, alleging the social media giant engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct in the promotion of its discontinued Onavo Protect mobile app.
Venture capitalist Elaine Stead wants Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston to hand over documents connected to confidential sources, and says Aston can’t rely on a journalist’s privilege protecting the identity of informants.