By Christine Chen and Byron Kaye
SYDNEY, April 28 (Reuters) – The Australian government said on Tuesday that Meta, Alphabet’s Google and TikTok could face multimillion-dollar charges if they did not negotiate deals to pay local media outlets for news on their platforms.
A proposed News Bargaining Incentive would tax the three big tech companies 2.25% on their local revenues unless they struck agreements, with the proceeds to be directed to news companies to boost Australian journalism.
“People are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, from TikTok and from Google, and we believe it’s only fair that large digital platforms contribute to the hard work of journalism that enriches their feeds and that drives their revenue,” Communications Minister Anika Wells told a news conference.
“Platforms should do deals with news organisations. If they decide not to, they will end up paying more,” she said.
When asked whether the government was concerned about any backlash from U.S. President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “We’re a sovereign nation. And my government will make decisions based upon the Australian national interest.”
The Trump administration opposes digital services taxes on U.S. tech giants and has threatened tariffs on countries that pursue them.
LEVY TO FUND AUSTRALIAN NEWSROOMS
Under the draft legislation, the levy would start from the 2025-26 financial year, which starts on July 1.
It applies to companies with a “significant” social media or search service in Australia, and local revenue exceeding A$250 million ($179.3 million) – capturing Meta, Google and TikTok.
It does not apply to artificial intelligence platforms, which are instead regulated through separate legislation, the government said.
“The News Media Bargaining Incentive means that if a platform doesn’t do a deal with a news publisher, the money will come to us and we will deliver that funding to news organisations based on how many journalists they employ,” Wells said.
The platforms would get bigger offsets for deals struck with smaller organisations.
A joint statement from the executives of Australia’s biggest media outlets, including Nine Entertainment, public broadcaster ABC and News Corp Australia, said the plan was a “critical step toward securing the future of Australian news”.
“If digital platforms fail to pay for the use of the news content from which they profit, then journalism becomes unsustainable,” the statement said.
‘SIMPLY WRONG’
But a spokesperson for Meta said the idea it took news content from publishers was “simply wrong”, adding that using the levy to fund local media would create a “news industry dependent on a government-administered subsidy scheme”.
“This proposed legislation, which would apply to platforms regardless of whether news content even appears on our services, is nothing more than a digital services tax,” they said.
Google also opposed the plan. “While we are currently reviewing the draft legislation, we have been clear: we reject the need for this tax,” a spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for TikTok declined to comment.
The News Bargaining Incentive is intended to replace 2021 laws that mandated tech firms pay for news content because those rules were “no longer working effectively,” the government said.
After the move Meta briefly blocked users from reposting news articles, but later struck deals with several Australian media firms that expired in 2024.
($1 = 1.3941 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Christine Chen and Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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