The social media giant Facebook vowed the investment of at least $1 billion in support of journalism over the next three years while taking a defensive stance over its acts in the Australia case. 

Facebook’s head of global affairs, Nick Clegg announced that the company is willing to support the impacted media agencies by the restricted payments. 

He said in a statement released Wednesday, “Facebook is more than willing to partner with news publishers. We absolutely recognize quality journalism is at the heart of how open societies function that is by informing and empowering citizens and holding the powerful to account.”

Also Read: Facebook to lift ban on Australian news pages as govt agrees to amend media law

Google has also previously pitched in finances to support media agencies, which it considers to be an integral part of democratic functioning. 

Facebook came into the crosshairs of critics when entire handles of media agencies were blanked out and restricted from sharing any further journalistic content. 

In his statements, Clegg noted that stories shared by news agencies shall be available for the users of the social media platform with all features offered to other stories. 

He further clarified Facebook’s stance and dusted off responsibility from alleged “stealing of journalism”. He said, “We neither take nor ask for the content for which we were being asked to pay a potentially exorbitant price.”

Clegg said that to comply with the law as originally proposed in Australia, “Facebook would have been forced to pay potentially unlimited amounts of money to multi-national media conglomerates under an arbitration system that deliberately misdescribes the relationship between publishers and Facebook.”

He maintained that in blacking out all news in the country, “we erred on the side of over-enforcement” and acknowledged that “some content was blocked inadvertently” before being restored.

Tech and social media giants like Google and Facebook have come under the scanner of the government after a long period of minimal regulation and governmental involvement. 

In Australia, regulators have zeroed in on their online advertising dominance and its impact on struggling news media.

Australia’s competition watchdog reported that Google takes away 53% of the total amount spent on online advertising, while Facebook bags 28% leaving the remainder to be divided among others. 

Also Read: Mogul vs Mogul: Australia’s tech law pits Murdoch against Zuckerberg

Australian authorities have been urging Facebook and Google to start paying for the news content generated in the country which requires extensive capital for production. 

“It is understandable that some media conglomerates see Facebook as a potential source of money to make up for their losses, but does that mean they should be able to demand a blank check?” Clegg asked rhetorically.

“It’s like forcing carmakers to fund radio stations because people might listen to them in the car — and letting the stations set the price.”