Australia plans to tax digital platforms that don’t pay for news

Meta, Google, TikTok Face New Australian Tax Over News Revenue

Australia has unveiled plans to implement a targeted tax on major digital platforms that don’t share revenue with news organizations, marking its latest move to regulate tech companies’ relationships with media outlets. The measure, set to take effect Jan. 1, will impact tech companies earning over AU$250 million ($159 million) annually in Australia, including Meta, Google parent Alphabet, and ByteDance’s TikTok. Australian government Assistan…

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Australia wants to tax Meta, Alphabet, and other platforms if they don’t pay for news

The Australian government said Thursday it will tax large digital platforms and search engines unless they agree to share revenue with Australian news media organizations. The tax would apply from Jan. 1 to tech companies that earn more than AU$250 million ($160 million) a year in revenue from Australia, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said. They include Meta, Google-owner Alphabet and ByteDance, th…

Australia to tax tech firms that earn $160 mn or more but don’t pay for news

'The real objective ... is not to raise revenue -- we hope not to raise any revenue. The real objective is to incentivise agreement-making between platforms and news media businesses in Australia,' Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said

Why is this measure necessary? This decision comes amid Meta's decision in March to stop funding Australian news through direct agreements with publishers. The government wants to ensure that digital platforms contribute financially to the sustainability of local media, which has faced significant revenue losses due to the rise in popularity of digital giants.Under the proposal, platforms with annual revenues of more than 250 million Australian …

Australia wants to make digital platforms pay for news — even if they block it, like Meta did here

Under the proposed new rules, any internet company that refuses to negotiate with publishers or removes news from its platform — as Facebook owner Meta Platforms did in Canada — would be forced to pay regardless, reports said.