Facebook said it would block news sharing on its platforms in Australia if the government went ahead with a law to force it, and Alphabet’s Google, to pay local media outlets for featuring their content on its platforms.
If the parties cannot reach an agreement, an arbitrator will decide whose offer is more reasonable. If Facebook or Google break any resulting agreements, they can be fined up to A$10m in civil penalties. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission began investigating “big tech” in 2017 and sought feedback on the draft until August 28. It now hopes to work with government and industry to redraft the law before it goes before parliament.
In 2019, the regulator published a report stating that news outlets lacked bargaining power when negotiating with digital firms over compensation for content posted on online platforms. It said this was a problem because those same publishers relied on Facebook and Google to reach many of their consumers.