Canberra/San Francisco: Australia will next week bring a landmark legislation to force Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for content, treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Friday.
Australia will become the first country to require the tech giants to pay for news content, a legislation whose direction that the world will be watching closely.
“The bill will now be considered by parliament from the week commencing 15 February 2021,” Frydenberg said in an emailed statement.
The legislation that has bipartisan support and which Google says is “unworkable” and will force it to exit the country altogether, could become a law this month.
A senate committee examining the proposals recommended no amendments, hastening the bill’s clearance.
Representatives for Google and Facebook did not immediately comment.
Pay for news content
The search and social media giants have urged Australia to go soft on the legislation, with executives of both firms meeting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Frydenberg.
Meanwhile, Google has introduced a platform offering news it has paid for, striking its own content deals with publishers in a push to indicate the legislation is unnecessary.
Google News Showcase
Reuters said last month it has signed a deal with Google to be the first global news provider to Google News Showcase. Reuters is owned by news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp.
Google and a French publishers’ lobby also agreed in January to a copyright framework for the tech firm to pay news publishers for content online, a first for Europe.
Microsoft backs Australia legislation
Meanwhile, Microsoft has lobbied for other nations to follow Australia’s lead in calling for news outlets to be paid for stories published online.
Microsoft had offered to fill the void if rival Google indeed turns off its search engine in Australia over the plan.
Microsoft president Brad Smith said the company fully supports the proposed legislation that would force Google and Facebook to compensate media for their journalism.
“This has made for an unusual split within the tech sector, and we’ve heard from people asking whether Microsoft would support a similar proposal in the US, Canada, the European Union, and other countries,” Smith said in a blog post.
“The short answer is yes.”
“As the United States takes stock of the events on January 6, it’s time to widen the aperture,” Smith said, referring to the riot at US Capitol building by a mob of Trump supporters looking to overturn election results.
“The ultimate question is what values we want the tech sector and independent journalism to serve.”
Compensate new media
Smith said internet platforms that have not previously compensated news agencies should step up to revive independent journalism that “goes to the heart of our democratic freedoms”.
“The US should not object to a creative Australian proposal that strengthens democracy by requiring tech companies to support a free press,” Smith said.
“It should copy it instead.”
Microsoft’s search engine Bing makes up for under 5% of the market in Australia, and 15-to-20% of the US market, show data from the tech giant based in Washington state.
“With a realistic prospect of gaining usage share, we are confident we can build the service Australians want and need,” Smith said.
“And unlike Google, if we can grow, we are prepared to sign up for the new law’s obligations, including sharing revenue as proposed with news organizations.”
News Media Bargaining Code
Under the News Media Bargaining Code, Google and Facebook will have to negotiate payments to individual news organizations for using their content.
Australian media firms Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Nine Entertainment have said they think the payments should amount to hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Bargaining code
If a deal can’t be reached on the payments, the issue would go to a so-called “final offer” arbitration where each side proposes an amount and the arbiter chooses one.
Google and Facebook have said the scheme would undermine business models and the functioning of the internet.
Both said they are willing to pay publishers for news via licensing agreements and commercial negotiations and have inked deals with news organizations everywhere.
Google has said the bargaining code should focus on facilitating these kinds of negotiations, but it rejected the idea of mandatory “final offer” arbitration.
Photo courtesy: Thennicke/Wikimedia Commons