Facebook and Google strongly opposed any move requiring them to share advertising revenue
Sydney:
Australia unveiled a bill on Friday to force Google and Facebook to pay news media for their content in a ‘high profile’ initiative that is sure to provoke a showdown with digital giants .
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the “mandatory code of conduct” to govern relations between the struggling information industry and tech companies after 18 months of negotiations that failed to bring the two sides together.
In addition to paying for content, the code covers issues such as access to user data, transparency of algorithms, and ranking of content in news feeds and platform search results.
“Nothing less than the future of the Australian media landscape is at stake with these changes,” he said at a press conference.
Frydenberg said legislation implementing the code would be introduced in parliament in the coming weeks and would include “substantial penalties” that could cost tech companies hundreds of millions of dollars.
While the code could potentially apply to any digital platform using Australian news content, Frydenberg said it will initially focus on Facebook and Google, two of the richest and most powerful companies in the world.
Australia’s initiative has come under close scrutiny around the world as news media around the world have suffered from an increasingly digital economy where advertising revenue is massively captured by Facebook, Google and other big tech companies.
The news sector crisis has been exacerbated by the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with dozens of Australian newspapers closed and hundreds of journalists sacked in recent months.
Facebook and Google have strongly opposed any move requiring them to share advertising revenue, suggesting they might simply boycott Australian media if mandatory payments were imposed.
But Frydenberg warned that the code would ban any “discrimination” against Australian media by tech companies.
“Today’s bill will attract the attention of many regulators and governments around the world,” said Frydenberg, calling the initiative “a leading regulatory framework.”
– ‘A good go’ –
He said the aim was “not to protect Australian news media companies from the competition, or the disruption that occurs in that industry,” but rather “to create a level playing field to ensure a level playing field. fair operation to Australian news media companies “.
“We want Google and Facebook to continue providing these services to the Australian community which are so appreciated and used by Australians.
“But we want it to be on our terms. We want it to be in accordance with our law. And we want it to be fair.”
Under the code, written by Australian anti-trust watchdog ACCC, tech companies will be required to negotiate “in good faith” with news agencies for payments for the use of their content.
If an agreement cannot be reached within three months, the matter will be referred to binding arbitration to determine the amount of payments.
The code also imposes a series of obligations on digital platforms, including prior notification of algorithm changes affecting news rankings and the transparency of advertising disseminated in relation to news content.
Violations of the code will result in penalties of up to A $ 10 million (US $ 7 million) per violation or 10% of the company’s local revenue, which the ACCC has estimated at around $ 4 billion. dollars per year.
Neither Google nor Facebook responded to requests for comment on Friday’s announcement.
But both rejected earlier versions of the proposed mandatory payments to news publishers, although they said they would participate in a collaborative content code to address complaints from the news industry.
The two companies claim that advertising revenue from news content is only a small fraction of their overall revenue.
“Digital platforms are not the cause of the difficulties inherent in monetizing journalism,” Google said in a communication to ACCC.
The companies also claim that they provide hundreds of millions of dollars to Australian news companies by driving traffic to their websites, through grant programs and limited news content purchases.
(This story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
