US EditionAustralia moves to tax Meta, Google and TikTok to fund newsrooms
The plan would channel levy revenue back to newsrooms and let platforms cut their tax bill by striking deals, officials said.
- On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese released draft legislation requiring tech giants Meta, Google, and TikTok to strike commercial deals with Australian news publishers or face a 2.25 per cent revenue levy.
- Following Meta's 2024 decision to abandon commercial agreements, the government designed the News Bargaining Incentive to prevent platforms from stripping news content to bypass payment obligations.
- The scheme targets platforms earning over $250 million in Australian revenue, with the 2.25 per cent charge reducible to an effective 1.5 per cent through commercial deals with publishers.
- Dismissing the Trump administration's objections on Tuesday, Albanese argued the legislation ensures journalism revenue is not "taken by a large multinational corporation" and instead supports local news sustainability.
- Labor expects to introduce the bill during the winter sitting period, with feedback open until May 18 and major Australian media groups voicing support for the legislation.
108 Articles
108 Articles
Australia forces Big Tech firms to pay for news or face a 2.25% tax
The more deals platforms make with media outlets, the less they pay. If enough agreements go through, that effective rate drops to 1.5%, which could generate between A$200 million and A$250 million back into Australian journalism.
Australia Plans Big Tech Tax to Fund Local News
Australia says big tech companies have a choice: pay news outlets or pay the taxman. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled draft legislation that would slap a 2.25% levy on Australian revenue from major digital platforms—currently Google, Meta and TikTok—unless they strike fresh deals to pay local...
Australia to tax Meta if it doesn't pay news publishers
The Australian government has announced plans for a levy on tech giants designed to incentivise them to do commercial deals with publishers. The News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) would require large search and social media services to pay 2.25% on their Australian revenue. This money would be “distributed back to the news media sector”, the government said, to “support the employment and critical work of journalists”. If this formula was adopted i…
Australia unveils a 2.25% levy on Meta, Google, and TikTok
The News Bargaining Incentive applies from 1 July 2026. Platforms that deal with news organisations get full or partial offsets against the levy. The legislation explicitly excludes pure AI chatbot services from coverage. Communications Minister Anika Wells and PM Albanese both announced the draft on Tuesday. The Australian government released draft legislation on Tuesday for […] This story continues at The Next Web
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