Digital platforms will be forced to pay for Australian news regardless of whether they enter new deals with publishers, preventing companies such as Meta side-stepping the news media bargaining code.
Here’s what’s happening – and how it could impact you.
What must platforms pay?
On Thursday the Albanese government announced its “news bargaining incentive”, a charge applied to digital platforms which is effectively refunded by an offset if they pay news companies directly instead.
The new model will require digital platforms with Australian revenues of more than $250m, including Meta, ByteDance (TikTok) and Google, to participate by paying a fixed charge or enter direct deals.
Consultation about the level of the charge will occur in 2025, although the assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, said charges would be “in the millions, not billions”.
After it is legislated, the requirement to pay will be backdated to 1 January 2025, and revenue from deals paid after that date will also qualify for offsets.
Will the government end up funding news?
Ideally, no.
The government does not intend to raise revenue through the measure, because the charge will be set at a level higher than digital platforms would pay under direct deals, incentivising them to pay publishers, not the government.
However, the government will have to develop a distribution mechanism in case any platform opts to pay the charge to the government instead of striking deals with media companies.
Why are they doing this?
The news media bargaining code was introduced in 2021 to address the significant bargaining power imbalance between digital platforms and news publishers.
The code saw digital platforms including Meta and Google pump about $200m into Australian media, after their business model had been disrupted by the growth of digital platforms.
But in March, Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, declared it would stop funding Australian news through deals with publishers.
How will this affect publishers?
The changes will effectively restore the revenue that was set to be lost by Meta ending its deals to compensate for carrying news, and provide certainty that other tech companies won’t follow suit.
Although the government can guarantee that no less money will flow from the platforms to news publishers in global terms, the new system could still disadvantage small publishers if platforms completely offset their liability through deals with bigger publishers.
On Thursday Jones offered reassurance that digital platforms “can’t acquit [their] offsets under this arrangement by doing one big deal with one outlet”.
How will this affect the public?
The government settled on the charge and offset model to prevent digital platforms refusing to carry news as a means to escape a requirement being imposed to bargain with local publishers.
The benefit to the public is they gain certainty that the platforms won’t drop the news. They should also receive more and higher quality news because digital platforms are subsidising traditional media.
The media union president, Karen Percy, called for greater transparency on how funds are spent, arguing they “must be used to support the work journalists do in Australia”. “It should not be used to reward shareholders or for corporate bonuses or inflating company profits.”
What did the government say?
On Thursday Jones said “the government wants Australians to continue to have access to quality news content on digital platforms”.
“Digital platforms receive huge financial benefits from Australia, and they have a social and economic responsibility to contribute to Australians’ access to quality journalism,” he said in a statement.
“This approach strengthens the existing code by addressing loopholes that could see platforms circumvent their responsibility to pay.”
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said the government “is committed to a diverse and sustainable news media sector, given this is critical to the health of Australia’s democracy”.
How did the platforms respond?
Meta said the proposal fails to understand that most people don’t come to Facebook for news content.
“We agree with the government that the current law is flawed and continue to have concerns about charging one industry to subsidise another,” a Meta spokesperson said.
A Google spokesperson said it had “continually demonstrated strong support for public interest journalism”, and had struck agreements with more than 80 Australian news companies representing 218 outlets.
“We’ve publicly committed to renewing those deals as they expire and the earliest have already been renewed.
“Australians are increasingly turning to a range of platforms, such as Microsoft, Snapchat and Apple, for news content and this shift in consumption should be reflected in any proposed measure.”
“The government’s introduction of a targeted tax risks the ongoing viability of commercial deals with news publishers in Australia.”
What did publishers say?
News Corp Australasia’s executive chair, Michael Miller, said the incentive would help to rebuild the industry after the loss of an estimated 1,000 jobs this year.
Miller said he would contact Meta immediately to seek to restart the commercial relationship the platform walked away from earlier this year.
“I will also be making contact with TikTok with the intention of reaching a commercial agreement with them as well,” he said.
“I believe news publishers and the tech platforms should have relationships that benefit both parties on commercial and broader terms, and the government has set a clear timetable to conclude discussions.”
Seven West Media’s managing director and chief executive, Jeff Howard, said the government’s commitment would ensure businesses were fairly remunerated.
“An enhanced news bargaining incentive means trusted and reliable news will continue to appear on these platforms, combating the growing problem of misinformation and disinformation,” Howard said.
The independent publisher, Man of Many, said the legislation must also ensure fair support for independent outlets.
