Facebook strikes deal with Murdoch’s News Corp in Australia

It is the first large media outlet with a Facebook deal under new laws on fees social media giants must pay for news.

Media baron Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp reached a content-supply deal with Facebook Inc in Australia, the companies said on Tuesday, a step towards settling a dispute that saw the social media giant briefly shut down thousands of pages in the country. The agreement, terms of which were not disclosed, makes News Corp the first large media outlet to strike a Facebook deal under controversial new laws that let an Australian government-appointed arbitrator set fees if companies fail to do so. Facebook’s blocking of all media content in the country for a week last month angered world leaders, as the blackout included emergency services and government health pages. It ended the shutdown when Australia agreed to soften some parts of the new regulations.