Legislation which would establish a “mandatory code of conduct” for news media businesses and digital platforms was approved at third reading by Australia’s House of Representatives yesterday.

The government’s draft code of conduct would require platforms like Facebook and Google to make payments to news companies whose content appears in its news feeds and search results.

Digital platforms would be required to negotiate with news publishers over the value of payments or go through arbitration by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, with fines of up to $10 million AUD or 10 per cent of turnover for breaches.

In a statement, Facebook said: “The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content.

“It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.”

According to reports, the new restrictions have also inadvertently removed pages from health authorities and trade unions, leading to a great deal of confusion among Australian users.