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Facebook refriends Australia

Following weeks of a tense standoff between Australia and Facebook, the Australian government has finally struck a deal after tweaks to a proposed law forcing big tech to pay for media content.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg confirmed the deal on Tuesday after talks with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over the weekend.

"Well Facebook has re-friended Australia and Australian news will be restored to the Facebook platform. And Facebook has committed to entering into good faith negotiations with Australian news media businesses."

Four changes will be made including one which allows two months for internet companies to strike private deals for news content before the government appointed arbitrator intervenes.

In response to the changes, Facebook said in a statement, "We are satisfied that the Australian government has agreed to a number of changes... that recognize the value our platform provides to publishers relative to the value we receive from them."

In return, Facebook will restore Australian news pages after it abruptly blocked publishers and users in Australia from sharing or viewing news content last week.

The move was criticised widely as Facebook also scrubbed pages of state government, emergency information and nonprofit charities.

World leaders have been watching the negotiations closely as countries like Canada and Britain consider similar legislation.