Australian treasurer says talks with Facebook on new media law were 'protracted and difficult'

In this photo illustration, the logos Facebook and Google are seen on a smartphone in front of an Australian flag.Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | LightRocket via Getty ImagesAustralian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told CNBC negotiations with Facebook about the country’s new media law were “pretty protracted and difficult” — but both sides finally managed to resolve their differences.The Australian parliament last week passed the law which requires companies such as Facebook and Google to pay media outlets and publishers to link their content on news feed or in search results.Before passage of the law, Facebook — in retaliation against the proposed bill — blocked Australian users from viewing and sharing news content on its platform. The Australian government criticized the move, which Facebook later reversed after both sides reached an agreement.”Well, there were challenging negotiations,” Frydenberg told CNBC’s Will Koulouris on Wednesday.”Obviously with Facebook, we were deeply disappointed by their actions to wipe Australian news off their site … But since that time, we got on the phone, we worked through our differences and we reached, I think, a mutually agreeable position,” he said.Things are moving in the right direction, although this has been a pretty protracted and difficult set…
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