The Australian government has announced plans to tax large digital platforms and search engines unless they agree to share revenue with Australian news media organizations. The tax will apply to tech companies earning more than 250 million Australian dollars ($160 million) a year in revenue from Australia.
Companies targeted by this tax include Meta, Google-owner Alphabet, and ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok. The tax will be offset through payments to Australian media organizations, with the government aiming to make revenue sharing the more cost-effective option.
The objective of this move is to incentivize agreement-making between platforms and news media businesses in Australia, rather than solely raising revenue. This initiative follows Meta's decision not to renew deals to pay Australian news publishers for their content.
In 2021, the Australian government introduced the News Media Bargaining Code, which required tech giants to strike revenue-sharing deals with Australian media companies or face fines. While Google has already established revenue-sharing agreements with over 80 Australian news companies, it has expressed concerns about the new tax proposal.
Google stated that the government's targeted tax could jeopardize the viability of commercial deals with news publishers in Australia. TikTok also emphasized that its platform primarily focuses on entertainment rather than news content.
Australian officials have communicated the government's intentions to their U.S. counterparts, clarifying that the tax is an incentive to support existing laws and encourage revenue-sharing to protect Australian democracy. Communications Minister Michelle Rowland highlighted the importance of these measures in safeguarding public interest journalism and the health of democracy in Australia.
