The Australian government announced on Thursday that it will impose a tax on major digital platforms and search engines unless they agree to share their revenue with Australian news media organisations.
This tax, set to take effect from January 1, will target tech companies generating more than 250 million Australian dollars ($160 million) annually from Australian operations, according to Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland.
The companies affected include Meta, Google, Alphabet, and ByteDance. Revenue paid to Australian media organisations will offset the tax, although the exact amount of the tax remains unspecified.
According to reports, Jones said, “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.”
This decision follows Meta’s announcement that it will not renew three-year agreements to pay Australian news publishers for their content.
In 2021, a previous government enacted the New Media Bargaining Code, compelling tech giants to establish revenue-sharing agreements with Australian media companies or face fines amounting to 10% of their Australian revenue.
Frances Ibiefo
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