The Australian government says it will introduce new rules to force big tech companies to pay local publishers for news.
The long-awaited decision sets out a successor to a world-first law passed by Australia in 2021, which was designed to make giants like Meta and Google pay to host news on their platforms.
Earlier this year, Meta – which owns Facebook and Instagram – announced it would not renew its payment deals with Australian news organizations, leading to a standoff with lawmakers.
The new rules, announced on Thursday, will require companies earning more than A$250 million ($160 million; £125 million) in annual revenue to enter into business deals with media organisations, or risk being hit with higher taxes.
The design of the scheme has not been finalized yet, but it will apply to sites like Facebook, Google, and TikTok.
Unlike the previous model, the new rules – called news bargaining incentives – will require tech companies to pay even if they do not enter into deals with publishers.
“Digital platforms receive huge financial benefits from Australia and have a social and economic responsibility to contribute to Australians’ access to quality journalism,” Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said on Thursday.
The previous News Media Bargaining Code saw news organizations negotiate commercial deals with tech giants, with companies like Facebook and Google also being forced to invest millions of dollars in local digital content.
This law aims to address what the government described as a power imbalance between publishers and technology companies, while compensating for some of the losses that traditional media outlets have faced due to the emergence of digital platforms.
As deals reached under the arrangement were set to expire, Meta said it would not renew them, resulting in a loss of revenue of approximately A$200 million for Australian publishers.
Instead, Meta said it would phase out its dedicated news tab – which highlights articles – on Facebook in Australia, and reinvest the money elsewhere.
“We know that people don’t come to Facebook for news and political content… News makes up less than 3% of what people around the world see in their Facebook feed,” she said in a statement in February.
The announcement prompted a strong reaction from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government, which described the move as a “fundamental dereliction” of Meta’s “responsibility to its Australian users”.
“The danger is that misinformation will fill any void created by news that is no longer on the platform,” Communications Minister Michele Rolland said at the time.
The new tax model begins in January 2025 and will be solidified into law once Parliament returns in February, the government said.
