Josh Frydenberg has warned the internet giants it is “inevitable” they will pay for news content and their threats to shut down core functions in Australia do them a “big disservice”.
At the doorstep on Sunday, the treasurer said Morrison’s government intended to be “world leader” in regulating social media and search companies, accusing them of shifting the goalposts in their opposition to the proposed bargaining code of conduct.
New Law In Australia
Google and Facebook are both fighting a law currently pending in parliament that would force them to enter into negotiations with content companies to pay for content, an arbitrator who will decide on the final payment amount if no agreement can be reached.
On Friday, the two intensified the controversy by threatening to remove Google’s search engine from Australia and Facebook to remove news from Facebook feeds for all Australian users.
The threats follow a revelation that Google has been trying to hide other Australian news sites from search results, with the media calling it a “extraordinary power” show.
Frydenberg’s Statement
Frydenberg told reporters in Melbourne that the government had been working with the Australian competition regulator for two years to develop the code to “see digital giants pay for original content made by our media businesses”.
Frydenberg has accused technology companies of “changing the goalposts” by first opposing the government’s proposal for a final settlement and now refusing to pay for clicks to the media content featured in the search results.
He said “if the clicks for media content is such a small proportion of their overall clicks on the search” that would be reflected in the payment determined by the independent arbiter.
Frydenberg noted that the government’s position was backed by media outlets and public voting, after a Dynata survey conducted by the Australia Institute’s Center for Responsible Technology found that four out of five respondents found it “disturbing” that Australian results could be removed from news feeds.
“It seems that digital giants did themselves a big disservice last week when they very openly and publicly threatened the Australian public with pulling out of Australia effectively with search if legislation proceeds as it currently stands,” Frydenberg said.
The treasurer said crossbenchers and the Australian Greens had spoken in support of the code, but accused Labor of “getting splinters sitting on the fence”.
“My view is that it is inevitable that the digital giants will be paying for original content and the choice for Australia, is: are we world leaders … and first off the rank when it comes to putting in place such a code? Or we can follow others further down the track when they do it.”
The Stance Of Tech Giants
Facebook has called the code inactive at the moment, and has demanded that digital platforms be granted a six-month grace deal to negotiate deals directly with media companies before being hit with a “big stick” of compulsory code.
Google has said it would accept mediation as a “reasonable backstop” to protect investment in news but the Australian model is flawed because it only looks at the costs of media companies and not Google – and encourages “ambit claims”.
On Friday Google made an agreement with a group of French publishers to pay for news through its News Showcase platform, which is not overseen by independent arbitration.
