Facebook argues 'no imbalance' in publisher relationships

Facebook denies there is an imbalance of bargaining power between the social media giant and Australian publishers, saying there is no evidence for the competition regulator's claim to the contrary.In Facebook's response to the Australian Competition and Consum er Commission's draft recommendations in its digital platforms inquiry handed down in December, the social media company said publishers controlled whether and how their content was accessed on Facebook.In terms of the value exchange here, coming back to that question of is there an imbalance in bargaining power? The preliminary report doesn't address the value that publishers get from Facebook and the cost-free opportunity to promote their content, and also to monetise their content," Facebook's associate general counsel of competition, Samantha Knox, told The Australian Financial Review.