In an unprecedented move, Australian government has ordered Facebook and Google to pay the country’s media outlets for news content. This will make Australia the first country to take such watershed move in the world. The aim is to give publishers a level playing field.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the two companies will have to negotiate with traditional media on remuneration in good faith. If no agreement is reached, then arbitrators will be appointed to make a binding decision and will be penalised up to A$10 million ($7 million)
for breaching the code.
The draft code is under consultation until Aug 28 and will apply only to Google and Facebook at present, but could be extended to other digital companies in the future.
From a long time, the traditional media companies have been complaining that their content is being exploited by digital platforms without due compensation. This sudden move by the Australian government has garnered huge support from the Journalism world. They are being closely watched by other countries too and could move things along.
“There is a fundamental bargaining power imbalance between news media businesses and the major digital platforms,” Rod Sims, the chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission which drafted the code, said in a statement.
“We wanted a model that would address this bargaining power imbalance and result in fair payment for content, which avoided unproductive and drawn-out negotiations, and wouldn’t reduce the availability of Australian news on Google and Facebook.”
