Global tech giants have been put on notice. They face a new tax in Australia if they refuse to pay for journalism. The long-awaited plan from the Albanese government would force firm like Facebook and Google to pay the tax even if they don’t host any news. The government says the policy is designed to force the companies back to the negotiating table with Australian media outlets.
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00:00After printing for more than 125 years, Broken Hill's independent newspaper Barrier Truth
00:08closed down this year.
00:10Sadly it's a common sight in regional Australia as vital advertising money is lost to social
00:15media platforms.
00:16The rapid growth of digital platforms in recent years has disrupted Australia's media landscape
00:23and it is threatening the viability of public interest journalism.
00:27Research and social media companies already pay some news outlets through the Media Bargaining
00:31Code, but a refusal to pay from Meta, the company that owns Facebook, has prompted the
00:36government to make major changes to the code.
00:39A financial incentive for agreement making between digital platforms and news media businesses.
00:46The charge will be applied to companies with Australian revenue of over $250 million a
00:51year, such as those that own Facebook, TikTok and Google.
00:55The charge is expected to be around $200 million a year, which they'll have to pay whether
01:00they run Australian news or not, but if they strike deals with local media outlets to pay
01:05for news content, the amount they outlay will be offset from their original charge.
01:10The past is the past.
01:11We've got new arrangements, new incentives in place.
01:15Let's come back to the table and strike some deals, make some agreements.
01:18The government wants this to be a carrot rather than a stick approach.
01:22In the end, these companies will be better off cutting deals with Australian news outlets
01:26rather than paying more to the government directly.
01:29TikTok says it'll engage with the consultation process, while Meta says it's concerned the
01:34proposal is charging one industry to subsidise another.
01:38Any money the government is left with from the tax will be distributed to media outlets.
01:43It's not revealed how it will protect regional media, but has flagged support is coming.