Australia’s government is creating new rules that will force Big Tech companies to pay publishers for news or face fines. It’s set to be the first law of its kind in the world.
The “News Bargaining Incentive” measure will raise taxes on digital platforms that earn more than $160 million a year if they don’t enter into commercial deals with media organizations. That includes Meta, Google and TikTok.
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The tax amount isn’t clear yet, but the government aims to make sharing revenue with media organizations cheaper.
Officials said the new structure would require tech companies to fund Australian journalism in exchange for the tax offsets, not to raise government revenue.
“Digital platforms receive huge financial benefits from Australia and they have a social and economic responsibility to contribute to Australians’ access to quality journalism,” Australia’s Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said.
Meta responded to the new tax plan. The company said, “the current law is flawed,” and the company has “concerns about charging one industry to subsidize another.”
In 2021, Australia passed a different measure by which tech giants form deals with Australian news companies. However, companies were able to skirt the mandate by removing links to Australian news content from their platforms.
Meta announced earlier this year it would not be renewing its deals. The company argued that tech companies are not responsible for issues with the news industry.
Google also made deals with more than 80 Australian news companies since the 2021 code passed. Google previously committed to renewing those deals.
However, the company told the New York Post in a statement that it is uncertain how to proceed following the new tax announcement.
The new model begins in January and will officially go into law once Parliament returns in February.
