A search for ‘Australia News’ on the Google homepage, arranged on a computer in Sydney, Australia, on Friday 22 January 2021.
David Gray | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Australia has passed a new law requiring digital platforms such as Facebook and Google to pay local media and publishers to link their content to news feeds or search results.
The move is widely expected and comes days after the government made some final amendments to the proposed bill, officially known as the mandatory bargaining code News Media and Digital Platforms.
“The code will ensure that news media companies are fairly remunerated for the content they generate, which helps maintain public interest journalism in Australia,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said in a joint statement. statement said.
They added that the government “welcomed the progress made by both Google and recently in reaching commercial arrangements with Australian news media companies.”
The law will be reviewed by the Treasury within one year of its commencement, officials said.
What did Facebook and Google do?
Both Facebook and Google have been fighting the law since last year.
In essence, Australia will be the first country where an arbitrator can decide by the government on the final price that any platform Australian news publishers will have to pay, provided a commercial agreement cannot be reached independently.
According to experts, the decision will be decided in favor of any party – the digital platform or the publisher – without room for a middle ground agreement.
In the amendments this week, the government said that the parties involved will get a mediation period of two months for brokerage transactions before it is done as a last resort arbitration.
Facebook announced on Monday that the newspapers in Australia would be restored, and return an earlier decision to block access to news content in Australia in retaliation against the proposed bill.
Campbell Brown, vice president for global news partnerships, said on Tuesday that the Australian government had explained that the technology company would retain the ability to decide whether news would appear on its platform so that it would not automatically be subject to a forced negotiation.
Google initially threatened to withdraw its search function from Australia. In recent weeks, however, it has entered into a number of prominent trade agreements with Australian publishers, including the media conglomerate NewsCorp, the Murdoch family.
Australia’s new law could set a precedent for Big Tech’s regulation by other countries. Countries like France have taken some measures to make technology companies pay for news, while others like Canada and the UK are considering their next steps.