When Facebook banned access to news content for Australian users, it vividly demonstrated the threat that social media giants pose to freedom of information. The ban also highlighted the power that those giants have over the livelihoods of news workers.

The standoff has ended for now. Facebook has signed lucrative deals with media companies and, in return, the Australian government has agreed to not apply the News Media Bargaining Code, which just passed Parliament, to Facebook or to other such firms, provided they can demonstrate they have reached similar agreements with news providers.

Australia’s treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has claimed the outcome as a victory — and so has Facebook. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp will no doubt be delighted to receive a cut of Facebook and Google’s revenue.