SYDNEY — Australia has escalated its long-running battle with the world’s biggest technology companies, passing a landmark law that could force Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn to pay millions of dollars to support Australian journalism — or face a hefty levy on their advertising businesses.
The Australian Parliament passed the News Bargaining Incentive on Thursday, August 20, introducing a system designed to push major digital platforms into commercial agreements with local news publishers rather than allowing them to benefit from journalism without contributing financially to its production.
Under the new legislation, qualifying technology companies can face a levy equivalent to 2.5% of their Australian digital advertising revenue if they fail to establish sufficient commercial agreements with Australian news organisations.
The measure applies to major social-media and search platforms operating significant services in Australia and earning more than A$250 million in local advertising revenue. Companies currently expected to fall within the scheme include Meta, Google, TikTok and Microsoft-owned LinkedIn.
Eight Publisher Deals Could Make the Difference
The legislation is deliberately structured to make commercial agreements more attractive than simply paying the government levy.
To qualify for offsets against their liability, platforms must reach deals with at least eight separate Australian publishers by the end of their financial reporting period.
The agreements must support the production of journalism or involve making publishers’ news content available through the relevant digital platform.
Deals with large publishers receive a 150% offset, while agreements with small and medium-sized publishers receive a more generous 200% offset, giving platforms a stronger incentive to negotiate with smaller outlets.
However, no single publisher agreement can represent more than 25% of a platform’s total levy liability, a safeguard intended to prevent technology firms from satisfying the requirement through only one or two dominant media companies.
Australia Wants the Money to Reach Smaller Newsrooms
The Albanese government says the system is not primarily intended as a new source of tax revenue.
Instead, it wants technology companies to negotiate directly with publishers.
Any money ultimately collected through the levy will be redirected into Australia’s news sector.
The government has also strengthened provisions aimed at regional journalism, smaller publishers and outlets serving underrepresented communities. Earlier revisions doubled the additional weighting for those groups from 10% to 20%.
ABC reported that 5% of money raised through the scheme is also expected to support grants for smaller publishers and news start-ups.
Australian media organisations argue that such support has become increasingly important as advertising revenue has migrated from traditional publishers to global digital platforms.
A coalition that included the ABC, News Corp Australia, Nine Entertainment, SBS, Network Ten, Australian Community Media, Southern Cross Media and Guardian Australia previously warned that journalism would become increasingly difficult to sustain if platforms continued benefiting commercially from professionally produced news without compensating the organisations producing it.
Why Australia Changed Its Original Media Bargaining System
Australia has already been at the forefront of global attempts to make technology platforms pay news organisations.
Its original News Media Bargaining Code, introduced in 2021, pushed Google and Meta into commercial agreements with Australian publishers.
But the system ran into a major problem.
Meta later declined to renew several publisher agreements and reduced the prominence of news on its platforms, demonstrating that a technology company could potentially avoid bargaining obligations simply by limiting news distribution.
The new News Bargaining Incentive was developed partly to close that loophole.
Unlike the previous system, a major platform can potentially remain liable even if it chooses to reduce or remove news content from its services.
That distinction could prove crucial because it weakens one of the strongest negotiating tactics technology companies previously possessed: threatening to stop carrying news altogether.
Meta Says the Law Is Unfair
The technology industry has strongly opposed the plan.
Meta has described earlier versions of the News Bargaining Incentive as unfair and discriminatory, arguing that publishers voluntarily post their material on Facebook and other platforms because they receive traffic and commercial benefits in return.
The Facebook and Instagram parent has also argued that forcing technology companies to transfer money to media organisations does not necessarily create a sustainable journalism industry.
Google has also questioned the need for another compulsory mechanism, pointing to its existing commercial relationships with Australian publishers.
According to ABC reporting, Google said earlier this year that it already had agreements involving more than 90 news businesses and 226 Australian outlets.
Technology companies have additionally questioned why some businesses — particularly certain artificial-intelligence platforms — have not been treated the same way.
Government Made a Major Concession to Big Tech
The legislation ultimately passed after the government modified its original proposal.
An earlier version would have calculated the levy against broader Australian company revenue.
Following consultation and industry opposition, the government narrowed the charge to digital advertising revenue only.
At the same time, however, it increased the levy rate from the previously proposed 2.25% to 2.5%.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said the revised structure more closely targets the part of technology companies’ businesses connected to advertising and news distribution.
The change could substantially reduce the levy base for some companies while still preserving enough financial pressure to encourage commercial deals.
Why the Fight Matters Beyond Australia
Australia’s experiment will be closely watched internationally.
Governments around the world have spent years debating how to rebalance the relationship between digital platforms and news publishers.
Publishers argue that companies such as Google and Meta captured an enormous share of digital advertising while professionally produced journalism continued supplying material that attracted users, searches and engagement.
Technology firms counter that they provide publishers with distribution, referral traffic and audiences — and argue that simply displaying or linking to news does not automatically mean they should be required to finance the companies producing it.
Australia is attempting to resolve that dispute with a simple economic calculation: sign deals with publishers, or potentially pay more through the levy instead.
The ultimate test will now be whether platforms decide negotiating is cheaper than resisting.
And that may determine whether Australia’s latest media law becomes a blueprint for governments elsewhere — or triggers another confrontation between Big Tech and national regulators.
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