“Facebook has re-friended Australia,”

Facebook has restored news for Wizards of Oz. Facebook has announced it will restore news content to its users in Australia, after it blocked news to Australians on its platform since last Thursday, amid a dispute over a proposed law that would force it and Google to pay news publishers for content. Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg had told him the ban would end “ in the coming days” after the pair had talked. Mr. Frydenberg said amendments would be made to the law.

“Facebook has re-friended Australia,” he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday. The government has been debating the law – seen as a test case for regulation globally- in the Senate after it was passed in the lower house last week.

Both Google and Facebook strongly opposed the law arguing the code misunderstands how the internet works. Facebook has also said it gets minimal commercial gain from news content.

“Going forward, the government has clarified we will retain the ability to decide if news appears on Facebook so that we won’t automatically be subject the publishers we choose to, including small and local publishers.”

Facebook already has its own showcase product Facebook News Tab – Through which it pays media organisations a fee to display their stories on its platform, but this feature is only available in the UK and the US.