Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (AP Photo/Rod McGuirk)
Australia is planning to make tech platforms such as Google and Facebook pay for news content, turning a voluntary code into a compulsory one.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been tasked with developing a mandatory code of conduct to be published in July and implemented 'thereafter'.
The code is designed to tackle 'bargaining power imbalances' between digital platforms and news media businesses and will cover the sharing of data, ranking and display of news content and the sharing of revenue generated from news. It will include enforcement measures, penalties for non-compliance and binding dispute resolution mechanisms.
Back in December, the government warned that if a voluntary code wasn't forthcoming, a mandatory one would be introduced. Now, says treasurer Josh Frydenberg, it's time to make the move.
"The Australian media sector was already under significant pressure; that has now been exacerbated by a sharp decline in advertising revenue driven by coronavirus," he says in a joint statement with minister for communications, cyber safety and the arts Paul Fletcher.
"At the same time, while discussions between the parties have been taking place, progress on a voluntary code has been limited according to recent advice provided by the ACCC following a request by the government for an update. The ACCC considers it is unlikely that any voluntary agreement would be reached with respect to the key issue of payment for content."
Facebook has said it's disappointed with the decision, pointing to its recent Covid-19 Community Network grant program - a $100 million investment aimed at supporting the news industry worldwide.
If the rules are introduced as planned, Australia will become the first nation to put platform-to-publisher payments into practice - although several others have considered or attempted it.
In France, for example, a similar directive was passed last year, but Google has avoided payments by simply not displaying French content. In Spain, similarly, Google News has been shuttered since 2014, when payments to publishers were ordered. It remains to be seen whether Australia will have more success.
