Australia to reveal laws to make Google and Facebook pay for news content
Facebook and Google could be required to pay news outlets for their content in legislation set to be introduced to Australia’s parliament on Wednesday.
According to Australian Treasurer Josh Friedenberg, this new law has been drafted. The law will be implemented next year after the approval of the Australian Parliament.
“This is a huge reform. This is a world first. And the world is watching what happens here in Australia,” he said.
The new media law will apply to Facebook’s “News Feed” and Google searches.
Experts associated with this case say that the Australian government has investigated for three years on content monetization. Only after this, the government has decided to implement the new law. In order to save their money, Facebook and Google threatened to close their business from Australia.
Experts say that Facebook and Google use the content of companies providing all the world’s news for user engagement in their platforms. Internet companies also make money from news content. But never this share of earnings is given to news outlets. Facebook and Google cleverly keep the news outlets by earning traffic by luring them.
An Australian review that led to the proposed changes found that for every $100 spent on online advertising, Google captures $53 while Facebook takes $28 and the rest is shared out among others.
Michael Miller, executive chairman of News Corp Australia, one of the nation’s largest media organizations, described the draft legislation as a “significant step forward in the decade-long campaign to achieve fairness in the relationship between Australian news media companies and the global tech giants.”
“All we have ever sought is a fair commercial outcome and fair payment for the valuable news content our journalists create,” Miller said in a statement. “I believe this code puts in place the framework for this to be achieved.”
Neither Facebook nor Google immediately responded to a request for comment on Tuesday.
