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Reuters
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Australia plans new rules to “create a financial incentive” for big tech companies to pay Australian media companies for news content on their platforms, Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones announced on Thursday.
The move, described as a “news trading initiative”, puts pressure on global tech giants such as Facebook-owned Meta Platforms and Google to pay publishers for content or risk paying millions to keep operations in Australia.
“The News Bargaining Initiative … will create a financial incentive for deals between Australian digital platforms and news companies,” Jones told a news conference.
The platforms at risk of being charged will be major social media platforms and search engines with revenues of more than A$250 million (about $160 million) based in Australia, he said.
The charge will be offset by voluntary commercial agreements between platforms and news businesses, he added.
Australia passed laws in 2021 to allow US tech giants such as Alphabet’s Google and Meta to compensate media companies for links that lead readers – and advertising revenue – to their platforms.
“We agree with the government that the current law is flawed and there remain concerns about charging one industry to subsidize another,” a Meta spokesperson said after Jones’ announcement.
“The proposal fails to take into account the reality of how our platforms operate, namely that most people do not come to our platforms looking for news content and that news publishers voluntarily choose to publish content on our platforms because they receive value for doing so.”
Meta had deals with several Australian media companies, including News Corp and national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp, but has since said it will not renew those deals after 2024.
