The logos of Facebook and Google apps displayed on a tablet.
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The Australian Consumer Watchdog on Monday signed a letter from Google claiming that a proposed media law would harm local users, saying the letter contained “incorrect information”.
In an open letter to Australians, the administrator and vice-president of Google Australia and New Zealand, Melanie Silva, said the proposed new law would force the tech giant to provide users with “a dramatically reduced Google Search and YouTube.” She also said it “could lead to your data being passed on to major news outlets, and would jeopardize the free services you use in Australia.”
Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), said Google’s letter contained “incorrect information” about the draft media law.
“Google will not be obliged to pay Australians for the use of their free services such as Google Search and YouTube unless it chooses to do so,” Sims said. He added that the tech company would not be required to share additional user data with Australian news companies unless it opted for it.
“The draft code will allow Australian news companies to negotiate fair payment for the work of their journalists included in Google services. This will address a significant imbalance in the bargaining power between Australian news media companies and Google and Facebook,” Sims said. .
Australia last month introduced a draft bill – the News Media and Digital Platforms mandatory bargaining code – requiring tech companies such as Google and Facebook to pay media for news. The legislation also states that companies must inform media organizations in advance if changes have been made in algorithms that will significantly affect the ranking of the news on their platforms.
The draft bill is in consultation period until 28 August. Sims said the ACCC will continue to discuss the draft code with stakeholders, including Google.
Google claimed that the law would force the company to give ‘unfair advantage’ to Australian news media companies over anyone else who owns a website, YouTube channel or small business. The American tech giant said it would allow those news outlets to “create enormous and unreasonable demands that would endanger our free services.”
“News media companies would only get information that would help them inflate their rankings on everyone else, even if someone delivers a better result,” Silva said in the letter.
“We’ve always treated all website owners fairly when it comes to information we share about rankings. The proposed changes are not fair and they mean that Google Search results and YouTube will be worse for you,” she added.
Google went on to say that it “pays millions of dollars” to Australian news media companies, sending “billions of free clicks” each year, and that it has “offered to pay more for licensed content.”
Media organizations have seen their advertising revenue cut over the years. Reuters reports that for every 100 Australian dollars ($ 71.93) spent on online advertising in Australia, excluding advertising, almost a third goes to Google and Facebook, according to government estimates.
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