Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn will have to pay millions to support local media under new Australian rules.
Australia will force Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn and others to pay taxes if they fail to reach deals with local news publishers. Both houses of the country’s parliament have passed a law that will force them to pay 2.75 percent of local revenues if they fail to reach deals with at least eight media outlets before the end of their annual reporting periods. The deals (which are to support news production by publishers) will offset what companies would have to pay through levies.
The levy applies to companies that generate more than A$250 million ($178 million) in local advertising revenue and operate a “significant” social media service or search engine in the country. As Reuters As the report notes, the money the country brings in from levies will go to publishers, as tech companies benefit from their work through engagement and ad revenue. The amount a publisher receives from taxes will depend on the number of journalists (including freelancers) it employs.
The new law replaces the 2021 rules. Previous requirements for tech companies to pay for information “no longer worked effectively”, according to the Australian government. After these measures came into effect five years ago, Meta temporarily blocked publishers and users from sharing news articles. He then struck deals with local media, but these expired two years ago. Meta made a similar move in Canada three years ago by blocking Facebook and Instagram users from sharing links to news articles.
