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Australia passes law to make Google, Facebook pay for news

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Australia's law forcing Google and Facebook to pay for news is ready to be implemented, though the law's architect says it will take time for the digital giants to strike media deals.

The Parliament on Thursday passed the final amendments to the so-called News Media Bargaining Code agreed between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday.

In return for the changes, Facebook agreed to lift a ban on Australians accessing and sharing news. Rod Sims, the competition regulator who drafted the code, says he is happy the law will address the market imbalance between Australian news publishers and the two gateways to the internet.