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Google and Facebook would risk multi-million dollar fines if they failed to comply with proposed legislation presented in the Australian Parliament that would make tech giants pay for the journalism they exhibit.
Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg introduced the so-called News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Trading Code and revealed details of his plan for Australia to become the first country to force digital platforms to compensate news media for journalistic content.
“We do not seek to protect traditional media companies from the rigors of competition or technological disruption, which we know benefits consumers,” Frydenberg told Parliament.
“Rather, we seek to create a level playing field where market power is not abused and there is adequate compensation for the production of original news content.”
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The details of the bill will be reviewed by a Senate committee before lawmakers vote on it next year.
Violations of the code, such as failure to negotiate in good faith, would be punished with a fine of A $ 10 million (NZ $ 10.6 million) or the equivalent of 10 per cent of annual turnover in Australia.
AP
Facebook previously warned that it could block Australian news content instead of paying for it.
If a platform and a news company cannot agree on the price of the news after three months of negotiations, a three-member arbitration panel will be appointed to make a binding decision on the payment for at least two years.
The panel would generally accept the entire platform or the final offer from the news business in its entirety.
In “very limited circumstances” when neither option is in the “public interest,” the panel “may modify the more reasonable of the two offers,” government documents say.
The bill does not specify how the payment would be made. The platform and the media business could agree to a lump sum or regular payments based on the amount of news content used.
Marcio José Sánchez / AP
Google has said the move could put free services at risk and lead to “dramatically worse” YouTube and Google services.
Facebook and Google have said they would read the details of the bill before commenting.
Facebook previously warned that it could block Australian news content instead of paying for it.
Google has previously said that the proposed laws would result in “dramatically worse Google and YouTube search services,” put free services at risk, and could lead to user data “being handed over to the big news companies.”
The Australian government is concerned that Google was taking 53 percent of online advertising dollars while Facebook was taking 28 percent without paying for news that the platforms share with their users.
Michael Miller, CEO of News Corp Australia, one of the largest media organizations in the country, welcomed the legislation as a significant step towards fairness.
