Online Public Relations Thoughts

How do you make nice after an international row with a government over payments to the media?  Why, you invest a billion in the local press and call the situation a misunderstanding.  That is what Facebook has done after blacking out news reports in Australia for a week.  The company is trying to play down the PR debacle over the fallout with the government.  The net result, however, is that Facebook is looked upon as a technological bully throwing its multi-billion dollar weight around and dictating to the rest of the world how it is going to act.  Backing off down under has given impetus to the EU and the rest of the world to demand payment for news that Facebook carries on its site.  Google has already negotiated but is still not out of the woods with regulators.  It seems both companies will be reined in sooner or later:  It is a question of time.  They need defensive PR/GR plans that alleviate the pain they will suffer.