Meta Objects to Australias Plan to Require Platforms to Pay News Publishers

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, has submitted a response to Australia’s proposed News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) plan. The proposal, which aims to require digital platforms to support Australian news outlets financially, has been met with criticism from Meta.

According to Meta, the NBI would shield news publishers from the need to adapt and evolve in order to achieve sustainable business models. Instead, the proposal guarantees revenue regardless of whether publishers build such models. This, according to Meta, would entrench dependency at a time when adaptation is crucial.

The company also argues that the proposals are economically incoherent and would not lead to a sustainable news sector. Furthermore, Meta claims that the plans would violate Australia’s commitments under its free trade agreement with the United States.

Under the proposed plan, social media and search platforms would face a 2.25% levy on Australian revenues if they do not make deals to pay Australian outlets for their news content. Platforms that reach a set minimum number of commercial agreements would be able to reduce the levy to an effective rate of 1.5%. Revenues from the levy would be distributed among media outlets based on the number of journalists they employ.

The initiative specifically targets Meta, Google, and TikTok owner ByteDance, but would not apply to AI developers that also influence search traffic, such as OpenAI. The plan aims to replace the previous News Bargaining Code, which was previously bypassed by tech companies.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the plans in April, pledging to support Australian journalists and news outlets. The government estimates that the new scheme would generate 200 million to 250 million Australian dollars (US$143m to US$178m) for local media outlets.

Source: Al Jazeera