Australia is not kidding when it comes to big tech. Last month, the country introduced a law that, if passed, would ban access to social media for anyone 16 years old or younger. Now it’s the turn of social networks and search engines to pay publishers for their content after Meta refused to do so, the Financial Times reports. The Australian Taxation Office will be responsible for collecting the money, although it should not benefit from this agreement, instead, all profits will go to media companies.
The new amendments will require any platform with more than AU$250 million (USD160 million) in revenue in Australia to pay a set fee or enter into a direct agreement with publishers. In 2021, Meta and Google signed an agreement to pay a number of large and small Australian media companies more than AU$200 million (USD128 million) a year – although these deals were largely forced by legislation. Earlier this year, Meta pulled out of the deal, saying that its users were not coming to its platforms for news content.
Industry leaders such as Michael Miller, CEO of News Corp Australia, welcomed the government’s recent move, saying: “This will provide the foundation for the media industry to recover from the loss of approximately 1,000 jobs this year, and ensure that Australian media continue to deliver the inquisitive and professional journalism that has never been more important to cohesive, democratic societies.”
Canada has previously taken a similar step, passing a bill in 2023 that required social media platforms and search engines to pay publishers. Meta reacted by removing news in the country, but although Google initially threatened to take action, the company agreed to pay news publishers about 100 million Canadian dollars (71 million US dollars) annually.
