Australia has passed a new law for the news and content of local media outlets. The newly passed law requires digital platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local media outlets and publishers for linking their content on news feeds or in search results.
Key Points
- The law was expected and comes after the government introduced some last-minute amendments to the proposed bill, officially known as the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code.
- The Code will ensure that fair remuneration is given to the local news media for the content they generate.
- The statement regarding the law was jointly released by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher.
- The Australian government is also happy to see the progress by Facebook and Google in reaching commercial arrangements with Australian news media businesses.
- The law will be reviewed by the Treasury within one year of its commencement.
- Australia will become the first country where a government-appointed arbitrator will decide on the final price that either platform will have to pay Australian news publishers, provided a commercial deal cannot be reached independently.
- The decision of the arbitrator will be final and will have no room for a middle-ground agreement.
- As per the latest amendments made to the bill, the parties involved will get a 2-month mediation period to broker deals before they are made to enter arbitration as a last resort.
Background
Both Digital Platforms Google and Facebook were against the law since the last year and have fought against it. Facebook has also blocked access to news content in retaliation against the law. But, later it announced to restore news pages in Australia.
The Australian government has clarified that Facebook will retain the ability to decide if news appears on its platform so that it won’t automatically be subject to a forced negotiation.
