Australia's parliament has passed the News Bargaining Incentive, a law requiring major technology platforms to either reach paid agreements with local news publishers or pay a 2.5% levy on their Australian advertising revenue.
The legislation applies to companies with significant search or social media services in the country and local advertising revenue exceeding A$250 million, which currently covers Meta, Alphabet's Google, TikTok, and Microsoft's LinkedIn. The vote arrives as artificial intelligence products increasingly repackage news content.
Terms and Distribution Rules for Tech Platforms
To prevent platforms from bypassing the levy through loopholes, the law includes specific distribution terms. Affected companies must sign agreements with at least eight separate Australian publishers before their financial reporting period ends. Additionally, no single deal can account for more than 25% of what the platform would otherwise owe, ensuring that smaller newsrooms are not left out.
Funds spent with large publishers count toward 150% of a platform’s bill, while spending with small and medium-sized news outlets counts toward 200%. The legislation dictates that these deals must fund news production or the online distribution of publisher content.
Background and Context
The Australian government stated that publisher content drives the ad sales and engagement that benefit tech platforms, meaning a share of the revenue belongs to newsrooms. This new measure extends the News Media Bargaining Code introduced in 2021, which was designed to push platforms toward direct negotiations with publishers.
The legislation was passed by parliament a day after the clearance of separate laws restricting gambling advertising. The government called it an important day for Australian news businesses and journalism, noting that publishers want the value of their reporting recognized in cash as AI answer engines increasingly summarize news content.
