Sydney: Australia has passed a new law that will impose a levy on major technology platforms that fail to reach commercial agreements with local media outlets for news content.
The News Bargaining Incentive will charge eligible companies 2.5 percent of their advertising revenue unless agreements are reached with Australian news publishers. The measure applies to platforms with significant social media or search services in Australia and local advertising revenue exceeding A$250 million ($178 million).
The law covers Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn. Eligible platforms can avoid the levy by reaching agreements with at least 8 different publishers before the end of their financial reporting period. Agreements must support the production of news content or relate to news content produced by publishers and made available online through the platform.
The legislation provides stronger incentives for platforms to support smaller news organisations. Spending with large publishers will receive a 150 percent offset. Agreements with small and medium-sized outlets will receive a 200 percent offset.
Any single agreement will be capped at 25 percent of a platform’s total levy liability. This structure is intended to encourage platforms to spread spending across a wider range of Australian publishers rather than relying on a small number of major media groups.
The Australian government stated that the legislation sends a clear message to digital platforms to pursue commercial agreements. Deals must be completed before the end of a platform’s financial reporting period to be used as an offset against liability for that period.
The government described the legislation as an important development for Australian news businesses and journalism. The measure aims to maintain financial support for news production as major technology companies continue to distribute and benefit from news content on their platforms.
The passage of the News Bargaining Incentive came a day after Australia’s parliament passed separate legislation restricting gambling advertisements, marking another major move affecting the country’s digital and media environment.
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