All Sections

View and post jobs in journalism
  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Comment/Analysis
  • Editor's Pick
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Broadcast Journalism
    • Digital Journalism
    • Magazines
    • Media Law
    • National Newspapers
    • People
      • Appointments
      • Obituaries
    • Regional Newspapers
  • Press Gazette Podcast
  • British Journalism Awards
  • Press Gazette Email Newsletter

In the news

  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
  • About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • RSS
Close
[mashshare]
Skip to content
  • About us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • RSS
All sections

Search

Search pressgazette.co.uk

Close

Press Gazette

Subscribe to our email newsletter Journalism email newsletter
  • News
  • Comment
  • Data
  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Marketing
  • Awards
  • Jobs

Menu

  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Interviews
  • National Newspapers
  • Regional Newspapers
  • Digital Journalism
  • Broadcast Journalism
  • Media Law
  • Magazines
  • Wires and Agencies
  • Obituaries
  • News
  • Comment/Analysis
  • Jobs
  • British Journalism Awards

In the news

  • Platforms
  • Publishers
  • Interviews
  • Marketing
Close
ad market covid-19 Newsbrand ad spend halved in April to June as Covid-19 hit, figures show
Facebook and Google referrals boost contributed to jump in news traffic at start of Covid-19 crisis
July 31, 2020
  • Digital Journalism
  •    
  • Media Law
  •    
  • News
  •    
  • Social media
  •    

Australia reveals plans to force Google and Facebook to pay publishers and correct 'power imbalances'

By Charlotte Tobitt Twitter

Share this

  • Tweet
  • Share 0
  • Reddit
Comments
0

Google and Facebook could be fined millions of dollars by the Australian Government if they do not comply with a proposed code that would force them to pay news publishers for their content.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has published a first-of-its-kind draft code of conduct, which it said aims at “addressing acute bargaining power imbalances between Australian news businesses and Google and Facebook”.

Timeline

  • September 17, 2020

    Australian documents reveal how News Corp, Mail and other publishers plan to battle tech giants on global scale

  • September 2, 2020

    Facebook Australia's news ban threat condemned as 'ill-timed and misconceived'

  • September 1, 2020

    Facebook Australia threatens to block news sharing on its platforms if government forces it to pay publishers for content

The code will force the tech giants to negotiate with a news business – or a group of them banded together – and if they cannot agree a deal within three months then an independent arbitrator will decide which offer is most reasonable.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said: “News content brings significant benefits to the digital platforms, far beyond the limited direct revenue generated from advertising shown against a news item. News media businesses should be paid a fair amount in return for these benefits.

“We believe that our final offer arbitration proposal provides a compelling incentive for parties to put forward fair and reasonable proposals, given each has just one chance to make an offer, and only one offer can prevail.

“We have ensured that the cost of producing journalism would be taken into account in arbitration. However, the arbitrator is also required to consider whether the payment proposals from news media businesses place an undue financial burden on the digital platforms.”

As well as bargaining over payment of content, the code would set new mandatory standards for how the tech giants must treat news media organisations.

Google and Facebook would be forced to finally give them information on how users engage with news content on their platforms, including how long people spend on an article and how many they read in a certain time frame.

They would also have to give publishers the ability to turn off comments on individual posts.

Publishers would get 28 days’ notice of algorithm changes that could have a material effect on their news traffic referral or that are designed to affect the ranking of paywalled news. The ACCC said this was long enough to give news media time to adapt without putting an “unnecessary burden” on the platforms.

The platforms would also have to notify them of substantial changes to how their platforms display news and to advertising that is directly associated with news.

Breaches of any of these standards, or the failure to negotiate on payment in good faith, would initially receive a fine of AU$133,200 (£72,962).

If the ACCC decides to bring court proceedings, it could lead to a fine of whichever is greatest out of $10m (£548m), three times the benefit gained, or 10% of the platform’s annual turnover in Australia in the previous year.

The ACCC gave the example that it would seek higher penalties as a deterrence if a platform continually refused to provide any advance notice of an algorithm change.

The Guardian reported that Sims told reporters the fines could be up to hundreds of millions of dollars given the size of Facebook and Google’s Australian revenues.

He also said that if Google turned off Google News, as it did in Spain to avoid paying publishers when a new copyright law came into force, the company would still be covered by the code because it serves up news articles in search results and owns Youtube.

The code will initially apply only to Google and Facebook but could be extended to other platforms later if they gain more power in Australia.

Media business will be eligible to take part if their online news content “investigates and explains issues of public significance for Australians; issues that engage Australians in public debate and inform democratic decision-making; or issues relating to community and local events”.

Other criteria includes that they must generate revenue of more than $150,000 per year and have a “suitable degree” of editorial independence.

News Corp Australia chairman Michael Miller praised the Australian Government’s “world-first action”, which he said comes as other countries are only “talking about the tech giants’ unfair and damaging behaviour”.

Google criticised the proposal, saying it ignores the “billions of clicks” it sends to Australian news publishers each year worth $218m.

Sims said Google and Facebook had contributed to the process of drawing up the draft code.

But Mel Silva, managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, said: “Our hope was that the code would be forward thinking and the process would create incentives for both publishers and digital platforms to negotiate and innovate for a better future – so we are deeply disappointed and concerned the draft code does not achieve this.

“Instead, the government’s heavy handed intervention threatens to impede Australia’s digital economy and impacts the services we can deliver to Australians. “

She added that the draft code “sets up a perverse disincentive to innovate in the media sector and does nothing to solve the fundamental challenges of creating a business model fit for the digital age”.

Facebook’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand, William Easton, said only that the company is reviewing the proposal “to understand the impact it will have on the industry, our services and our investment in the news ecosystem in Australia”.

Picture: Pexels

SIGN UP HERE FOR

MEDIA MONITOR

Press Gazette's weekly email providing strategic insight into the future of the media

Subscribe

Related Stories

  • Australian documents reveal how News Corp, Mail and other publishers plan to battle tech giants on global scale
  • Google's battle with Australian news industry: Search giant is 'trying to gaslight users because it doesn't want to pay for news'
  • Facebook joins Google in rejecting Australia's 'pay for news' proposal, telling publishers: You need us more than we need you
  • Australia to force Google and Facebook to pay for news content

Explore these topics

  • Australia
  • Facebook
  • Google
Browse, search and add journalism jobs
Comments
No comments to display

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More content

Post a job on Press Gazette

Most Popular

  1. PA wins High Court injunction against union issuing 'fake' press passes to 'citizen journalists'
  2. The new Trump bump: How Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy and far-right outlets are taking on Fox News
  3. Regional print journalist Liz Bates takes Channel 4 News political correspondent role
  4. GB News launch: Why advertisers are positive about new anchor-led news channel for UK
  5. Cash for conspiracies: How David Icke, 'alternative' media and tech giants make money from coronavirus conspiracies

Latest Jobs

  • Editor in Chief, Scottish Sun
  • Features Producer, Economist Radio
Facebook and Google referrals boost contributed to jump in news traffic at start of Covid-19 crisis

© copyright 2021 Press Gazette Ltd. Made in Taiwan.