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Hours after Facebook reversed its controversial decision to prohibit Australians from accessing news content on the platform, the company announced its first proposed deal with one of the nation's media organizations, Seven West Media.This shows just how powerful Big Tech is. Moreover, where does this put small, independent, and alternative news organisations that don't have the bargaining power and legal representation that the large corporations have?
Alongside the statement on the discussions with Seven West Media, Facebook also revealed it is working to secure similar deals with other national and local news organizations in Australia.
"As a result of these changes, we can now work to further our investment in public interest journalism and restore news on Facebook for Australians in the coming days," Facebook Australia's managing director, Will Easton, said in a statement.
Currently, the agreement is only outlined in a letter of intent between Seven West Media and Facebook, with it being subject to a long-form agreement being signed between the two companies in the next 60 days.
It is not yet clear what the terms of the deal are, as the statement released by Seven West Media simply stated that it "will provide more details following the execution of the agreement." The only information provided is that it will allow the media company to build its "digital platform."
Seven West Media has also agreed a deal with Google to provide news content to that company, as part of that tech giant's parent company Alphabet's work to comply with the new legislation in Australia. Google has already reached agreements with News Corp and Nine Entertainment, two companies Facebook is yet to secure a deal with.
The media bargaining code, which is expected to become law in the next few days, will require tech companies to pay news organizations for the content that they produce, as part of the government's work to ensure journalists are compensated for their work.
Last week, in opposition to the proposed legislation, Facebook blocked all news content on its site, putting pressure on the government ahead of parliament's consideration of the law. After discussions that took place throughout the weekend, the Australian government conceded and offered to make changes to the media code, watering it down and agreeing to not apply it to companies that could demonstrate they had signed or were attempting to sign enough deals with media outlets to use their content.
"The Brennan Center is on a mission to undermine support for voter integrity measures, claiming that state-level voter ID provisions will disfranchise millions of voters and that voter fraud rarely occurs. However, some of its major reports concerning voter ID measures and voter fraud are wrought with bias and have been refuted by election scholars."
"We can't, I'm afraid, rule out re-imposing restrictions at local or regional level if evidence suggests they are necessary to contain or suppress a new variant which escapes the vaccines."See also: Psychologists accuse UK government of using 'unethical' fear tactics on people to enforce lockdown
"I was stunned at the response from Department of the Army, which was reluctant to send the D.C. National Guard to the Capitol," acting MPD Chief Robert Contee wrote in a statement submitted ahead of a joint hearing Tuesday between the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Senate Rules Committee. "On the call, in an effort to seek clarification, I asked the Capitol Police Chief if he were, in fact, requesting the assistance of the National Guard and then asked the U.S. Army representatives on the call if they were refusing to deploy the Guard to assist. The Army staff responded that they were not refusing to send them, but wanted to know the plan and did not like the optics of boots on the ground at the Capitol."
Contee, whose officers were called in by Capitol police only after the attack began, said law enforcement and military officials spoke in a call about who was responding but that defense officials were concerned about the optics of sending in the military.
"While I certainly understand the importance of both planning and public perception, the factors cited by the staff on the call, these issues become secondary when you are watching your employees, vastly outnumbered by a mob, being physically assaulted," said Contee, who got neighboring cities and states to send in police officers within hours.
"I was honestly shocked that the National Guard could not, or would not, do the same," he said.

In advance of the Wednesday hearing, called "Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media," members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee sent a letter on Monday to Comcast, AT&T, Spectrum, Dish, Verizon, Cox and Altice, asking about their role in "the spread of dangerous misinformation."
The committee members also sent the letter to Roku, Amazon, Apple, Google and Hulu, digital companies that distribute cable programming.
..."To our knowledge, the cable, satellite and over-the-top companies that disseminate these media outlets to American viewers have done nothing in response to the misinformation aired by these outlets," two Democratic representatives from California, Anna G. Eshoo and Jerry McNerney, wrote in the letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
...The lawmakers' letter asks the companies, "What steps did you take prior to, on, and following the November 3, 2020 elections and the January 6, 2021 attacks to monitor, respond to, and reduce the spread of disinformation, including encouragement or incitement of violence by channels your company disseminates to millions of Americans?"
"Are you planning to continue carrying Fox News, OANN, and Newsmax on your platform both now and beyond the renewal date?" the letter continues. "If so, why?"
Comment: Is this the sort of person one would want in charge of health policies, especially those affecting children?