Exclusive: Australia puts website accused of fake journalists on register for payment by Facebook, Google

FILE PHOTO: The Google and Facebook logos, the words "media, news, media" and the Australian flag are displayed in this illustration photo taken February 18, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's ground-breaking law forcing platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local publishers for news faces an unlikely test case: a website that experts say uses fake journalist profiles that has won regulatory backing for its bid to be paid.

Australia’s regulator in charge of enforcing the law, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, last month added "News Cop" – an almost-unknown site without a physical address – to the public register of companies who can negotiate licensing deals with the parents of Facebook and Google under the government system.