Australia passes law forcing tech companies to pay levies unless they strike deals with news publishers
Australia's parliament has passed a new law requiring Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn to pay levies if they fail to reach agreements with local news publishers. The law replaces 2021 rules that the government said were no longer working effectively.
Both houses of Australia's parliament have passed legislation designed to push major technology companies to financially support local news publishers. The law targets companies including Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn.
How the system will work
Companies that fail to reach agreements with at least eight news outlets by the end of their annual reporting period will be required to pay a levy of 2.75 percent of their local revenue. Deals that support publishers' production of news will offset what a company owes under the levy. The rules apply to companies generating more than AU$250 million (about $178 million) in local advertising revenue that also operate a significant social media service or search engine in the country.
Revenue collected through the levies will go to publishers, reflecting the fact that tech companies benefit from news content through user engagement and advertising revenue. How much a given publisher receives will depend on the number of journalists it employs, including freelancers.
Replacing an earlier framework
The new law replaces rules introduced in 2021, which the Australian government said were no longer working effectively. After those earlier rules took effect, Meta temporarily blocked publishers and users from sharing news articles on its platform. It later struck deals with local outlets, but those agreements expired two years ago. Meta took a similar step in Canada three years ago, blocking Facebook and Instagram users from sharing links to news articles.
