Australia Media Law: 2.25% Tax on Meta, Google, TikTok Unless They Pay for News

Australia Media Law will tax Meta, Google and TikTok 2.25% of local revenue unless they strike payment deals with news publishers. The Silicon Review reports on the draft News Bargaining Incentive and offsets of up to 170% for media agreements.

The Australian government unveiled draft laws that would impose a 2.25% levy on the local revenues of Meta, Google, and TikTok unless the tech giants voluntarily reach payment agreements with domestic news publishers.

The proposed News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) is designed to replace the Morrison government’s 2021 News Media Bargaining Code, which Labor says is “no longer working effectively” after Meta allowed its deals with Australian outlets worth about $70 million annually to expire in 2024.

Platforms that sign qualifying commercial agreements will receive offsets ranging from 150% for deals with traditional media organizations to 170% for agreements with smaller publishers. Any revenue collected from the levy will be directed to support Australian journalism.

“People are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, from TikTok and from Google,” Communications Minister Anika Wells told a news conference. “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. Platforms should do deals with news organisations. If they decide not to, they will end up paying more.” 

The NBI applies to digital platforms with Australian revenues exceeding A$250 million, meaning the three named companies Meta, Google, and TikTok are the initial targets. The exposure draft has been released for public consultation, with the government planning to introduce legislation during the winter parliamentary sitting period.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasized that journalism must be valued. “Large digital platforms cannot avoid their obligations under the news media bargaining code,” he told reporters. “Your work needs to have a monetary value attached to it. It shouldn't just be able to be taken by a large multinational corporation and used to generate profits for that organisation with no compensation. ” 

The draft laws are designed to prevent tech companies from simply stripping news from their platforms a tactic Meta and Google have used in the past. When Canberra previously sought similar regulations, Meta briefly blocked Australian users from accessing news content and announced it would not renew content deals with publishers in the United States, Britain, France, and Germany.

As Australia unveils the world’s most ambitious attempt yet to force Big Tech to pay for journalism with a 2.25% levy and 170% offsets for deals The Silicon Review examines whether the News Bargaining Incentive can succeed where previous codes failed, and how the $250 million question of funding Australian newsrooms will be answered in the months ahead.