Australia plans to charge Big Tech millions if they don’t pay local media for news, increasing pressure on platforms like Meta and Google to compensate publishers.
Australia's centre-left government said on Thursday it planned new rules that would charge big tech firms millions of dollars if they did not pay Australian media companies for news hosted on their platforms.
The move piles pressure on global tech giants such as Facebook-owner Meta Platforms and Alphabet's Google to pay publishers for content or face the risk of paying millions to continue operations in Australia.
"The news bargaining initiative will ... will create a financial incentive for agreement-making between digital platforms and news media businesses in Australia," Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones told a press conference.
The platforms at risk will be significant social media platforms and search engines with an Australian-based revenue in excess of $250 million, he said.
The charge will be offset for any commercial agreements that are voluntarily entered into between the platforms and news media businesses, Jones added.
Tech companies condemned the plan.
"The proposal fails to account for the realities of how our platforms work, specifically that most people don't come to our platforms for news content and that news publishers voluntarily choose to post content on our platforms because they receive value from doing so," a Meta spokesman said after Jones' remarks.
The proposed new rules come as Australia toughens its approach to the mostly US-domiciled tech giants, after becoming last month the first country to ban children under the age of 16 from social media.
That move is seen as setting a benchmark for other governments' handling of Big Tech.
Canberra also plans to threaten the companies with fines for failing to stamp out scams.
Google, ByteDance through TikTok, and Meta through its various platforms would fall within the scope of the charges under the new rules. However X, formerly Twitter, would not be covered, Jones said.
BLOCKING NEWS
In 2021, Australia passed laws to make the U.S. tech giants, such as Google and Meta, compensate media companies for the links that lure readers and advertising revenue.
After the move Meta briefly blocked users from reposting news articles, but later struck deals with several Australian media firms, such as News Corp and national broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp.
It has said since it will not renew those arrangements beyond 2024.
Meta, which also owns Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, has been scaling back its promotion of news and political content globally to drive traffic and says news links are now a fraction of users' feeds.
This year it said it would discontinue the news tab on Facebook in Australia and the United States, adding that it had cancelled the tab last year in Britain, France and Germany.
In 2023, Meta blocked users in Canada from reposting news content after its government took similar action.
Australia news organisations, including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, are expected to benefit from the new rules.
Following Jones' announcement, News Corp Australia Executive Chairman Michael Miller said he would contact Meta and TikTok immediately to seek a commercial relationship with News Corp Australia.
"I believe news publishers and the tech platforms should have relationships that benefit both parties on commercial and broader terms," he said in a statement.
Severe floods in southeast Australia have left four dead and tens of thousands stranded, as authorities warn of ongoing dangers and climate impacts.
Torrential rains in southeast Australia triggered flash floods and stranded residents on rooftops on Wednesday, prompting emergency evacuation orders across New South Wales as rivers swelled beyond danger levels.
U.S. officials have privately expressed frustration over Australia’s decision to send 49 retired M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, as the first vehicles begin their journey to Europe amid growing concerns about their battlefield effectiveness and long-term sustainability.
Australia has confirmed that a fleet of retired U.S.-made Abrams tanks promised to Ukraine is finally on the way, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in Rome on Sunday, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has downplayed the likelihood of significant progress on a free trade agreement with the European Union during his meeting with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Rome.
The U.S. Mint will end production of the penny by early next year, citing high manufacturing costs and a directive from President Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump signed four executive orders directing the Department of Energy to ease regulations and accelerate the construction of nuclear reactors.
The Trump administration has granted Syria a temporary waiver from key U.S. sanctions and loosened business restrictions, marking the first formal step in a broader plan to dismantle decades-old penalties.
U.S. federal authorities have charged the alleged leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group with plotting acts of domestic terrorism, following an investigation that uncovered plans targeting Jewish and minority communities.
Iran and the United States ended their fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome with some progress but no resolution, according to the mediator from Oman.
Tensions flare in the India-France Rafale deal as France refuses to share the fighter jet’s source code, limiting India’s ability to integrate indigenous weapons and reducing its combat autonomy.
France has rejected India’s request to share source codes needed to integrate indigenous weapons into Rafale fighter jets. Despite repeated appeals, French manufacturer Dassault Aviation has refused to compromise on the issue
Anton Kobyakov, adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum that the USSR’s dissolution was legally invalid and that the Soviet Union still exists under constitutional law, framing the Ukraine war as an “internal process.”
In a region long defined by conflict and complex history, AnewZ set out to hear the voices that matter most- those of the people.
Two staff members from the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.- Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were shot and killed on Wednesday night by a lone gunman as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum, close to the White House.
President Donald Trump signed four executive orders directing the Department of Energy to ease regulations and accelerate the construction of nuclear reactors.
The Trump administration has granted Syria a temporary waiver from key U.S. sanctions and loosened business restrictions, marking the first formal step in a broader plan to dismantle decades-old penalties.
U.S. federal authorities have charged the alleged leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group with plotting acts of domestic terrorism, following an investigation that uncovered plans targeting Jewish and minority communities.
Iran and the United States ended their fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome with some progress but no resolution, according to the mediator from Oman.
Russia is preparing to present Ukraine with a draft peace proposal once a recent prisoner swap concludes, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced Friday, signaling a potential step forward in peace efforts.
The U.S. Mint will end production of the penny by early next year, citing high manufacturing costs and a directive from President Donald Trump.
President Donald Trump signed four executive orders directing the Department of Energy to ease regulations and accelerate the construction of nuclear reactors.
The Trump administration has granted Syria a temporary waiver from key U.S. sanctions and loosened business restrictions, marking the first formal step in a broader plan to dismantle decades-old penalties.
U.S. federal authorities have charged the alleged leader of an Eastern European neo-Nazi group with plotting acts of domestic terrorism, following an investigation that uncovered plans targeting Jewish and minority communities.
Iran and the United States ended their fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome with some progress but no resolution, according to the mediator from Oman.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment