Australian regulator allows radio station body to negotiate content deal with Facebook, Google

FILE PHOTO: Google and Facebook logos and Australian flag are displayed in this illustration taken, February 18, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

(Reuters) - Australia's competition regulator allowed a body representing 261 radio stations to negotiate a content deal with Facebook and Google on Friday, as part of the country's new law to compel the tech giants to pay for news content.

The body, Commercial Radio Australia (CRA), will now have 10 years to negotiate with the tech giants for its members except the stations run by Nine Entertainment who had already secured deals, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said.