The Australian government is seeking to tax big tech companies if they do not sign news service contracts with local media companies.
According to AFP, the Australian government has unveiled a bill to impose taxes on big tech companies if they do not sign a contract with media companies to pay for news.
Prime Minister Anthony Albany said of the bill, “Big digital platforms cannot evade their obligations under the news media negotiation regulations,” adding, “There are currently three targets: Meta, Google, and TikTok.”
“What we are inducing is for them to sit at the negotiating table with the media and sign a contract,” he said, explaining that refusing to do so would result in a tax equivalent to 2.25% of Australia’s sales. The three companies were selected based on the size of sales and the number of users in Australia.
The bill is a measure to strengthen the News Media Negotiation Act, which was introduced in 2021. The News Media Negotiation Act requires big tech companies to pay news usage fees to media companies.
Meta and Google signed contracts with local media companies after the introduction of the bill at the time, but have refused to renew their contracts by suspending or reducing news services after the contract was terminated. In response, the Australian government plans to pressure big tech companies to sign contracts with media companies through this bill.
However, since Meta and Google threatened to remove news tabs and restrict search services when the news media negotiation law was introduced, labor pains are expected in the future. The strengthened new bill will be submitted to the parliament later this year after collecting opinions next month.
Media companies around the world are competing to survive as more people consume news through social media. According to a study by the University of Canberra in Australia, more than half of Australians receive news through social media.
As a result, there are growing calls for big tech companies that use articles to induce traffic to compensate media companies.
“Journalism should be given monetary value,” Albany said. “Large multinational corporations should not take it and use it to generate profits without compensation.”
“People are getting more and more news from Facebook, TikTok and Google,” Communications Minister Annika Wells said. “It is fair to reward large digital platforms for their efforts to enrich their feeds and contribute to revenue generation.”
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
