• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Media

Australia to make Google and Facebook pay for news content

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced the move as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2020-04-20 09:32
in Media, News
REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Global digital platforms Google and Facebook will be forced to pay for news content in Australia, the government has said, as the coronavirus pandemic causes a collapse in advertising revenue.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) would release in late July draft rules for the tech giants to pay fair compensation for the journalistic content siphoned from news media.

Mr Frydenberg said he believed that Australia could succeed where other countries, including France and Spain, had failed in making Google and Facebook pay.

“We won’t bow to their threats”

“We won’t bow to their threats,” he told reporters. “We understand the challenge that we face. This is a big mountain to climb. These are big companies that we are dealing with, but there is also so much at stake, so we’re prepared for this fight.”

The ACCC had attempted to negotiate a voluntary code by which the global giants would agree to pay traditional media for their content.

But the parties could not agree on “this key issue of payment for content”, Mr Frydenberg said.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said Australia would take a different approach to Europe, relying on competition law rather than copyright law.

RelatedPosts

Named & shamed: The high-profile Tories BACKING the US abortion ban

This TalkTV Brexit poll isn’t going the way they hoped

Sun’s Remoaner Watch extends to 10 people – and the entire BBC

Abortion clinics begin closing after Supreme Court ruling

Google and Facebook said they had been working to the ACCC November deadline to negotiate a voluntary code.

“We’re disappointed by the government’s announcement, especially as we’ve worked hard to meet their agreed deadline,” Facebook managing director for Australia and New Zealand Will Easton said.

“Covid-19 has impacted every business and industry across the country, including publishers, which is why we announced a new, global investment to support news organisations at a time when advertising revenue is declining,” he added, referring to a 100 million-dollar investment in the news industry announced in March.

Code of conduct

Google said it had engaged with more than 25 Australian publishers to get their input on a voluntary code.

“We have sought to work constructively with industry, the ACCC and government to develop a code of conduct, and we will continue to do so in the revised process set out by the government today,” a Google statement said.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims played down the prospect of Google shutting down its Australian news platform rather than pay for content as it had done in Spain.

“Around 10 per cent of search results are media stories. This will seriously affect the usefulness, for example, of Google Search, so I think we have to understand that there’s value both ways here and I think it will be hard for Google and Facebook just to say we won’t have any contact with news media at all,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Michael Miller, executive chairman Australasia of News Corp Australia, the nation’s largest newspaper publisher, said: “We are looking for a fair payment and at the same time a substantial payment.”

Mr Frydenberg declined to estimate how much Google and Facebook would pay news media, other than to say it would amount to millions of dollars.

Google is netting 47 per cent of online advertising spending excluding classified ads in Australia, and Facebook is claiming 24 per cent, he said.

Media companies have stopped printing dozens of newspaper mastheads across Australia because the pandemic shutdown has caused advertisers to stop spending.

Related: Government support for businesses needs to become ‘faster and simpler’

Tags: FacebookGoogle

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

New research shows spike in searches for properties with granny annexes

Reaction as ‘ungrateful’ Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe trends on Twitter

Review – The Heart of Adrian Lovett

Watch – Boeing Dreamliner decked out as world’s largest luxury business charter

Food and Drink Guide To St. George’s Day in London

In pics – These puntastic road signs can’t help but put a smile on your face

Shamima Begum wins right to return to Britain and challenge citizenship ruling

TLE drives: The Aston Martin DBS superleggera

Inequality and housing crisis are no accident – they are a direct consequence of Government policy

PM poised to announce study into Irish Sea road crossing, claims minister

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.