Exclusive: Facebook rejects talks with Australia publisher, may test online law

FILE PHOTO: The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken December 2, 2019. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Illustration/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's competition watchdog is looking into a claim that Facebook Inc refused a publisher's request to negotiate a licensing deal, the regulator told Reuters, setting the stage for the first test of the world's toughest online content law.

The Conversation, which publishes current affairs commentary by academics, said it asked Facebook to begin talks as required under new Australian legislation that requires the social media firm and Alphabet Inc's Google to negotiate content-supply deals with media outlets.