Australia to Make Facebook, Google Pay for News

Australia announced Today its plans to make Facebook and Google pay its media outlets for news content.

Meanwhile, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg explained that the Big Tech firms must negotiate with local publishers and broadcasters how much they pay for content that appears on their platforms. If they can’t strike a deal, a government-appointed arbitrator will decide for them.

Frydenberg added; “Our legislation will help ensure that the rules of the digital world mirror the rules of the physical world and finally sustain our media landscape.”

For every $100 of online advertising spend, $53 goes to Google, $28 goes to Facebook, and $19 goes to other participants, Frydenberg reported. On other hand, the mandatory bargaining code is the result of many years of complaints from traditional media outlets that social media platforms benefit from the hard graft of journalists without paying a cent for it.

Moreover, the exact rate would be determined by the two parties. Smaller media companies would also be able to band together to bargain as a group, or agree to "standard" offers made by the tech platforms.

Noteworthy, Facebook revealed its plans to launch news tab in UK by 2021 worth £5bn, the firm will pay publishers millions of dollars to feature their content. The publishers including The Economist, The Mirror, The Guardian, Vogue, GQ and Harpers have signed a deal with Facebook for their content to feature in the tab.

Facebook News is a tab within the platform that showcases licensed content, will roll out in January next year in the UK. Facebook curates and personalises stories in Facebook News for users, selecting original and authoritative reporting, according to the firm report.