A new law down under could end up changing the relationship between social media sites and the news media forever. A new law in Australia now requires Facebook and Google to pay for original content, including news. And now, according to CBS2, the Senate here in the United States is looking to a similar plan.

On Tuesday, Facebook reached a deal to pay Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for journalism content posted on their site. CBS2 reports that the deal comes several weeks after Australia passed a new law allowing news providers to negotiate the price platforms pay to link their content into their news feeds and search results. As you may imagine, Facebook originally opposed the idea. It shut down news service in Australia. Google threatened to do the same thing. Now, both companies have agreed to pay major Australian publishers for news content.

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CBS2 points out that the victory in Australia is being felt around the world. Here in the U.S., a bipartisan group of lawmakers reintroduced legislation that would allow news agencies to band together and demand payment for their content shared online. Lawmakers say that the legislation is needed as a way of leveling the playing field, and giving media outlets a fighting chance against tech giants.

Republicans are getting on board. After all, they've been claiming that conservative voices are being silenced on sites like Facebook and Google. GOP lawmakers say this type of bill could help "dethrone the digital kings."

 

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