SYDNEY: Australia unveiled draft laws on Tuesday that would tax tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok unless they voluntarily strike deals to pay local outlets for news.
Traditional media companies around the world are in a battle for survival as readers increasingly consume their news on social media.
Australia wants big tech companies to compensate local publishers for sharing articles that drive traffic on their platforms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok would be given a chance to strike content deals with local news publishers.
If they refused, they faced a compulsory levy that amounted to 2.25 percent of their Australian revenue, he said. “Large digital platforms cannot avoid their obligations under the news media bargaining code,” Albanese told reporters.
“At this point the three organisations are Meta, Google and TikTok.”
The changes aim to close a loophole under a previous media law which allowed organisations to avoid a levy if they removed news from their platforms.
The three firms were singled out based on a combination of their Australian revenues and large numbers of domestic users.
“What we are encouraging is for them to sit down with news organisations and get these deals done,” Albanese said.
