Australia mandates tech levies to fund local news production
New legislation requires major platforms to pay 2.75 per cent of local revenues if they fail to secure direct agreements with at least eight news publishers.
The Australian Parliament has enacted legislation requiring major technology companies to pay levies to support local news publishers if they fail to reach direct commercial agreements. The law, passed by both houses of the parliament, targets firms such as Meta, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn, mandating that they pay 2.75 per cent of their local revenues if they do not secure deals with at least eight outlets by the end of their annual reporting periods.
The legislation applies to companies that generate over AU$250 million in local advertising revenue and operate a significant social media service or search engine within the country. To avoid the levy, these platforms must enter into agreements that specifically support the production of news. The value of these agreements will offset the amount the companies would otherwise be required to pay through the statutory levy.
Revenue collected from the levies will be distributed to news publishers based on the number of journalists they employ, including freelancers. The government introduced this framework to ensure that technology companies, which benefit from news content through user engagement and advertising revenue, contribute to the sustainability of local journalism.
This new law replaces the rules introduced in 2021, which the Australian government stated were no longer working effectively. The previous measures led to significant disputes, most notably when Meta temporarily blocked publishers and users from sharing news articles in Australia. Although Meta subsequently reached deals with local news outlets, those agreements expired two years ago.
The shift in regulation follows a pattern of international disputes over digital media rights. Meta implemented a similar news-blocking measure in Canada three years ago, restricting Facebook and Instagram users from sharing links to news articles. The new Australian framework aims to provide a more stable and enforceable mechanism for compensating publishers, moving away from the volatile negotiation dynamics seen under the 2021 rules.
For investors and market participants, the legislation introduces a new cost structure for major tech platforms operating in Australia. While the specific financial impact on individual companies is described as amounting to millions, the mandatory nature of the levy creates a predictable expense for firms that do not engage in direct publishing partnerships.
