The government is set to introduce a new scheme to force big tech companies including Meta and Google to pay media publishers for news content, or alternatively face huge financial penalties.

It follows a move by Meta to no longer pay Australian news companies for the content after deals it signed with media companies expired earlier this year.

under the proposed scheme, if companies such as Meta or Google do not renew their commercial deals with Australian publishers, they will face a levy imposed through the tax system.

Media reports have indicated that the levy would be greater than the cost of them striking a deal to pay for the news content.

 

In 2021, Meta and Google entered three-year multimillion-dollar voluntary commercial agreements with media companies. While Google voluntarily renewed the agreements, Meta did not.

Google is reportedly considering wanting to renegotiate those deals upon expiry, possibly reducing the amount it pays publishers, reported the Australian Financial Review.

The value of the original deals struck under the news media bargaining code are expected to be used as a benchmark for reaching new agreements.

Meta has threatened to block news entirely in Australia, as it has in Canada, if it is forced to strike new deals under the code.

 

 

The government’s move to get big tech companies to pay for news content is seen as one designed to benefit local journalism in Australia as major companies including Nine, News Corp and Seven West Media have had redundancies while Google and Meta made a combined profit of $176 billion last year.

In October, a parliamentary joint select committee on social media and Australian society recommended the creation of a “digital platform levy” on companies such as Meta and Google to fund public interest journalism.

The committee’s interim report focused on Meta alleging the “de-prioritisation of news” on its platforms.

The committee’s report stated that the code should not be abolished but “further measures may be needed” to fulfil the spirit of the code.

“The committee’s recommendations ignore the realities of how our platforms work, the preferences of the people who use them, and the value we provide news publishers who choose to post their content on our platforms,” said a Meta spokeswoman in October.