Australia plans to create a new law to force big technology companies Meta, Google and TikTok to pay for journalistic content. If they do not close commercial agreements with local vehicles, these companies could be taxed around 2% to 2.25% of their revenue in the country. If approved, the measure could be valid from July 1st.
Called News Bargaining Incentive (“Bargaining Incentive for News”, in free translation), the bill currently being drafted seeks to finance Australian journalism by distributing the capital raised to media companies. Priority would be for those that employ the most journalists or that do not have prior agreements with large technology companies.
The platforms criticize the bill to pay for journalistic content because they consider that this charge would be an unfair tax and could make journalistic companies dependent on government subsidies.
Continues after advertising
Also read:
The Australian government argues that Meta, Google, TikTok and other so-called “big techs” profit from news produced by third parties and, therefore, should pay for it.
“People are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, TikTok and Google, and we believe it is only right that the big digital platforms contribute to the hard work of journalism that enriches their feeds and boosts their revenue,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said at a press conference, according to Reuters. “Platforms should be making deals with news organizations. If they decide not to, they will end up paying more,” she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia will make decisions based on the national interest rather than worrying about reprisals from US President Donald Trump, as Meta and Google are American companies.
It is worth noting that the bill does not apply to companies that provide generative artificial intelligence tools, such as OpenAI, Perplexy or Google itself. For this, Australia has specific legislation.
Meta reported that funding local media would create a “news industry dependent on a government-run subsidy scheme”. “This proposed law, which would apply to platforms regardless of whether journalistic content even appears on our services, is nothing more than a tax on digital services,” according to the company.
Continues after advertising
Google is also against the taxation proposal. “Although we are analyzing the bill, we have already made it clear: we reject the need for this tax”, informed the company. Bytedance, responsible for TikTok, did not comment.
New agreement
The new proposal replaces previous rules from 2021, when Australia led a regulatory clash against big tech by approving the News Media Bargaining Code. The law forced digital platforms to negotiate payments with media companies for the use of journalistic content, with provision for arbitration if there was no agreement.
Before approval, there was a strong reaction from technology companies. While Google threatened to withdraw its search engine from the country, Meta briefly blocked the publication of news on Facebook in Australia. After adjustments in legislation, platforms began to close direct agreements with vehicles, resulting in relevant payments to the media sector in several countries. This payment model, however, expired in 2024.
Continues after advertising
According to a post on LinkedIn by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, professor of communication at the University of Copenhagen, the preparation of the new Australian project lacks transparency.
“From the point of view of public policy formulation, I find it difficult to understand why the political preference for encouraging opaque private agreements persists. A direct tax, introduced by politicians who take responsibility for both who should pay and who should receive, seems a much clearer, more transparent and predictable model”, he writes.
For him, direct subsidies for media companies can be financed with taxes on specific sectors, as France does to support the film industry, or with general taxes, as Denmark does.
