Australia has unveiled draft legislation to require major social platforms to contribute part of their revenue to fund local journalism.
The government released the proposed bill Tuesday and intends to introduce it to Parliament by July 2. The measure is designed to create a financial incentive for platforms to reach commercial deals with news organisations and pay for journalism rather than leaving newsrooms without compensation.
Platforms have criticised the plan as effectively a digital services tax that misunderstands how advertising has shifted and warned it would not create a sustainable news sector.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the work of journalists should carry a monetary value and not be used by large multinationals to generate profit without fair compensation for creators. He framed the proposal as an investment in journalism that supports a healthy democracy.
This is Canberra’s second attempt to make tech companies pay for Australian news. In 2021 the News Media Bargaining Code pushed platforms toward commercial agreements with publishers, and while deals were reached then, some platforms later avoided renewing agreements by removing news content from their services.
The new proposal, called the News Bargaining Incentive, would impose a 2.25% charge on the Australian revenue of major platforms that fail to reach commercial deals with news publishers. Companies that do negotiate payments to publishers would receive offsets, lowering their overall cost under the scheme, the government says.
Officials estimate the incentive would raise between A$200 million and A$250 million (US$144–179 million) per year, roughly the level of support seen when the bargaining code was most effective. Communications Minister Anika Wells said the funds would be distributed to news organisations based on how many journalists each employer has.
The measure specifically targets Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google (Alphabet) and TikTok. Meta responded that news outlets post content voluntarily and said the proposal would amount to a digital services tax that risks creating dependence on a government subsidy. Google said it already has commercial arrangements with news organisations, argued the proposal misunderstands changes in the ad market, and questioned why some platforms like Microsoft, Snapchat and OpenAI would be excluded. TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The earlier code was criticised by some in the United States for disproportionately affecting American firms. Albanese said Australia will act in its national interest and is not deterred by expected pushback.
