A few years ago, Australia passed legislation requiring platform giants including Facebook-owner Meta and YouTube’s parent Google to negotiate with news publishers to pay for journalism reshares. The News Media Bargaining Code forced Big Tech to cut deals with local news outlets. However, Meta has since moved away from promoting news on its platforms globally — and in March, it shocked Australian publishers by telling them commercial arrangements worth around $70 million would not be renewed.
A few months on from Meta’s bombshell move, the Australian government is readying its response: the Financial Times reports that it will introduce a legislative amendment targeting social media and search engines which will force them to pay for news if local revenues exceed $250 million per year. The news tax would be offset against any payments voluntarily made to publishers — so the measure, which will undergo public consultation next year, is clearly intended to get Big Tech back around the media negotiating table.