Australia will introduce landmark legislation next week to force Alphabet’s Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for content, a senior government official said on Friday.
The legislation, which Google says will be “unworkable”, will make Australia the first country to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content.
“The bill will now be considered by parliament starting the week beginning February 15, 2021,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in an emailed statement.
The legislation is being closely followed around the world.
With bipartisan support, it could become law this month despite doubts from Google, which says the law will force it to withdraw its search function.
Software giant Microsoft Corp said it is confident its search product Bing could fill the void in Australia if Google pulls out.
Lucinda Longcroft, Google’s director of government affairs and public policy in Australia and New Zealand, said the company had proposed amendments to a Senate investigation, but they were rejected.
However, the company still expected to discuss the law with members of parliament.
“We look forward to engaging with legislators through the parliamentary process to address our concerns and achieve a code that works for everyone – Australian publishers, digital platforms and businesses and users,” Longcroft said in an emailed statement.
Facebook did not immediately respond to requests for comment when contacted by Reuters.
US search and social media giants have lobbied Australia to ease the legislation, and senior executives from both companies have held talks with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Frydenberg.
Google last week launched a platform in Australia that delivers news that it has paid for, closing its own content deals with publishers in an attempt to show that the proposed legislation is unnecessary.
Last month, Reuters said it had signed an agreement with Google to be the first global news provider for the Google News Showcase. Reuters is owned by news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp.
Google and a pressure group of French publishers also agreed in January on a copyright framework for the technology company to pay news publishers for online content, a first in Europe.
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