The Australian government plans to introduce a levy to force social media companies and search engines to pay publishers for their journalism after Facebook and Instagram owner Mehta pulled out of an existing deal. .
Under proposed amendments to current regulations, social media platforms and search engines that derive more than $250 million in annual revenue from Australia would be subject to a “fee”. The levy would be offset by payments tech companies make directly to publishers. The move is aimed at encouraging negotiations with the media industry over commercial deals.
It’s the latest move by Canberra to counter the power of the tech sector, after introducing legislation last month to ban under-16s from using social media services. The company also took Company X to court this year to stop violent videos being circulated on its platform, and has proposed legislation against online fraud and misinformation over the past year.
Meta and Google announced that in 2021, Australian media companies, including News Corp, Nine Entertainment’s newspaper division Fairfax, and a number of other smaller media companies, will receive A$200 million ($128 million) in annual content royalties. (U.S. dollar) or more. Then, the world’s first law forcing technology companies to negotiate with publishers was introduced.
These funds helped create journalism jobs, including apprenticeships, professional positions and some journalists, in rural areas where local newspapers are struggling to adapt to the digital transition.
Earlier this year, Meta announced it would stop paying media companies as part of its global exit from news feeds. The Australian government was furious, forcing the company back to the negotiating table and vowing to close “loopholes” in the law.
The new measures will be subject to public hearings next year before details are confirmed. The revised law could affect Big Tech’s names in social media and search, including Apple, TikTok, Meta, Microsoft’s LinkedIn, and Google. The latter signed a new contract with the publisher in July.
Mehta said the new law does not reflect how people use social media.
“We agree with the Government that the current law is flawed and remain concerned about requiring one industry to subsidize another.” “This proposal fails to account for the reality of how our platform works. Specifically, most people do not come to our platform for news content, but rather for news publishing. People voluntarily choose to post content on our platform because they receive value from doing so.”
TikTok and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The news was welcomed by the country’s largest media companies. Michael Miller, executive chairman of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Australia, said the Australian government was “ready to be a leader” in defining how tech companies should operate within society. He said that it was shown that.
“This provides the foundation for rebuilding the media industry after an estimated 1,000 job losses this year and ensures Australian news media companies continue to deliver inquisitive and professional journalism. “This is more important than ever for a united, democratic society,” Ms. Miller said.
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He said the company is considering starting negotiations with Meta and TikTok for commercial agreements immediately.
Matt Stanton, acting chief executive of Nine, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review, told 2GB radio station that the tightening of the law would force tech companies to strike commercial deals. He said he was given an “incentive.” “There’s a bit of a carrot and stick here,” he said.
He rejected the idea that this meant technology companies were effectively subsidizing media companies, saying the opposite was true. “Australians’ attention is on these platforms (for our content) and they are monetizing it,” he said.
The Australian Taxation Office will be responsible for collecting the levy, but the government said it did not intend to raise any revenue through this process and any levy collected would be passed to the media department.
