CANBERRA
Australia will force Meta and Google to pay for news shared on their platforms under a new scheme unveiled on Thursday, threatening to tax them if they refuse to strike deals with local media.
Traditional media companies the world over are in a battle for survival as precious advertising dollars are hoovered up online.
Australia wants big tech companies to compensate local publishers for sharing articles that drive traffic on their platforms.
“The rapid growth of digital platforms in recent years has disrupted Australia’s media landscape, and it is threatening the viability of public interest journalism,” Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told reporters.
“It is important that digital platforms play their part. They need to support access to quality journalism that informs and strengthens our democracy.”
Social media platforms with Australian revenue of more than $160 million a year will be taxed a still-to-be-decided figure earmarked to pay for news.
But they can offset the tax, or avoid paying it entirely, if they voluntarily enter into commercial agreements with Australian media companies.
The Australian government indicated the parent companies of Google, Facebook and TikTok would be covered by the tax, which will come into effect next year.
Officials said Elon Musk’s X would likely escape because its domestic revenue was too small.
In 2021, Google and Meta struck a string of deals with Australian newsrooms worth a combined $160 million.
But Meta has indicated it will not renew its deals when they expire in March, arguing that news makes up a tiny portion of its traffic.
