Facebook pledges to invest $ 1 billion in Australia



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The social network, “Facebook”, announced that it will invest at least $ 1 billion in news content over the next three years, following criticism for temporarily banning newspaper articles in Australia.

“We have invested $ 600 million since 2018 to support the media industry, and we intend to invest at least an additional $ 1 billion over the next three years,” wrote Nick Clegg, Facebook’s public affairs official. .

He said: “We are fully aware that high-quality journalism is essential to the functioning of our societies by informing and appreciating citizens and holding influential people accountable for their actions.”

The official did not provide details on the distribution of the company’s future investments in the media, nor the form these investments will take.

The promise made by the Mark Zuckerberg-owned company comes a day after the end of intense tensions with the Australian government over a bill to regulate relations between traditional media facing great financial difficulties and the giants that dominate the Internet and win. a large part of advertising. income.

The Australian Parliament passed the law, while the government announced that it would ensure that the media were paid “fair sums for the content they produce, which would help revive public interest journalism in Australia”.

The new law parallels Google’s promise last October to pay $ 1 billion over 3 years to publishers, such as Der Spiegel and Die Zeit magazines in Germany, with the aim of using their content for a new tool. called “Google”. “News programs” as part of associations.



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