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.
A pilot was seriously injured on Friday after his aircraft crashed while performing aerobatic maneuvers during an airshow in southeastern Australia.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a national election for May 3, kicking off a tight five-week campaign dominated by cost-of-living concerns. With polls neck-and-neck, both leaders are focusing on tax cuts, energy costs, and healthcare in their bid to win over voters.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has set a national election for May 3, as Labor faces a tight race against the opposition.
“On the eve of the election, have you sold out your environmental credentials for a rotten, stinking extinction salmon?” Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young asks, hanging a dead fish in parliament to oppose the government’s salmon farming policy.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar’s Sagaing region, followed by a 6.4-magnitude tremor, killing more than 1,644 people and leaving 2,300 injured. The quake caused building collapses in Myanmar and Thailand, prompting emergency declarations and ongoing rescue efforts.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres responds to discussions on a potential temporary administration in Ukraine, reaffirming the presence of a legitimate government and clarifying the UN’s role in mediation efforts.
Suicide bomber targets a political protest rally in Balochistan, Pakistan. No civilian casualties reported; the attacker was killed.
The Norwegian Government has decided to provide a total of NOK 3 billion in humanitarian support to Ukraine and to the refugee response in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries in 2025.
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilots, monitoring a Chinese navy warship as it navigated Australian waters, were alerted to a live-fire exercise via a civilian radio broadcast, defense officials revealed on Tuesday.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar’s Sagaing region, followed by a 6.4-magnitude tremor, killing more than 1,644 people and leaving 2,300 injured. The quake caused building collapses in Myanmar and Thailand, prompting emergency declarations and ongoing rescue efforts.
As the world shifts toward clean energy at an ever-accelerating pace, large economies are scrambling to secure reliable supply chains for rare earth minerals. These minerals, once seen as mere industrial components, have become a political tool in the global power struggle
Russian forces carried out a drone attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, late Wednesday, injuring at least twenty one people and causing structural damage, according to Ukrainian officials.
A devastating overnight drone attack on Kyiv, attributed to Russian forces, resulted in the deaths of three people, including a five-year-old child, and left ten others injured.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar’s Sagaing region, followed by a 6.4-magnitude tremor, killing more than 1,644 people and leaving 2,300 injured. The quake caused building collapses in Myanmar and Thailand, prompting emergency declarations and ongoing rescue efforts.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres responds to discussions on a potential temporary administration in Ukraine, reaffirming the presence of a legitimate government and clarifying the UN’s role in mediation efforts.
Suicide bomber targets a political protest rally in Balochistan, Pakistan. No civilian casualties reported; the attacker was killed.
The Norwegian Government has decided to provide a total of NOK 3 billion in humanitarian support to Ukraine and to the refugee response in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries in 2025.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar’s Sagaing region, followed by a 6.4-magnitude tremor, killing more than 1,644 people and leaving 2,300 injured. The quake caused building collapses in Myanmar and Thailand, prompting emergency declarations and ongoing rescue efforts.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres responds to discussions on a potential temporary administration in Ukraine, reaffirming the presence of a legitimate government and clarifying the UN’s role in mediation efforts.
Suicide bomber targets a political protest rally in Balochistan, Pakistan. No civilian casualties reported; the attacker was killed.
The Norwegian Government has decided to provide a total of NOK 3 billion in humanitarian support to Ukraine and to the refugee response in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries in 2025.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment