Meta, TikTok and Google could be forced to pay to tens of millions for local journalism under draft laws released on Tuesday.
Despite the risk of a backlash from the pro-tech Trump administration, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday released draft legislation including a tax worth 2.25 per cent of tech firms’ revenue if they do not strike voluntary agreements with media companies to compensate them for news hosted on social media and search engines.
Australia has insisted in its public messaging that the charge on tech giants would not constitute a tax, which could trigger the ire of the US administration and possibly lead to tariffs on Australia.
The government said it would not put any revenue into Commonwealth coffers, insisting it would distribute money to media firms based on how many journalists they employ.
Albanese dismissed the Trump administration’s objections to the scheme during a press conference on Tuesday.
“We’re a sovereign nation,” the prime minister said.
“This is not about government revenue. Every single dollar will go back to journalists. We think that investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy. It matters.”
Albanese added that local journalism shouldn’t “be taken by a large multinational corporation and used to generate profits”.
The draft laws, which have been delayed for many months amid concern about the US reaction, were required after Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, pulled out of a Morrison-era scheme that drew in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for media companies.
Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino said social media sites with more than 5 million users and search sites with more than 10 million users would be covered by the proposed laws.
Meta said it would simply pull news off its platforms, prompting the government to re-jig its framework to guard against the risk of Meta blocking news links, as it has done in Canada for several years.
On Tuesday, the tech giant labelled the scheme “nothing more than a digital services tax”.
“A government-mandated transfer of wealth from one industry to another, with no connection to the value exchanged, will not deliver a sustainable or innovative news sector. Instead, it will create a news industry dependent on a government-administered subsidy scheme,” a spokeswoman said.
“We are reviewing the details of the exposure draft and will provide feedback through the consultation process.”
The announcement drew immediate support from Australia’s major news organisations, which issued a joint statement backing the legislation. The heads of the ABC, Nine Entertainment, News Corp, Network Ten, SBS, Southern Cross Media, Australian Community Media and The Guardian Australia said the future of local journalism was at stake.
“The vibrancy of Australian democracy relies on the robust and open exchange of news, views and opinions,” the group said. “This is under threat.”
The companies said it had been more than two years since Meta abandoned previous commercial deals and 18 months since the government first announced the News Bargaining Incentive.
“While Google has been positive about doing deals, others need to come to the table, and all platforms need to step up.”
Under the proposed scheme, platforms with more than $250 million in annual Australian revenue from significant social media or search services face the 2.25 per cent charge, which can be reduced through an offset to an effective 1.5 per cent if they strike commercial agreements with publishers.
The incentive is designed to encourage technology companies, which are worth trillions and control much of the distribution of information in the world, to pay much smaller publishing companies for their use of news reports that engage their users and help them to sell ads. The companies are also increasingly deploying AI chatbots and tools that reproduce and link to Australian journalism.
Companies such as Meta, which is the most antagonistic to the proposal, have argued the laws are unfair because they provide a service to the media by sending readers to their websites.
As this masthead previously reported, LinkedIn does not appear in the legislation’s initial scope despite distributing news to Australian users. The Microsoft-owned platform also has its own editorial team and dedicated news tab. Fellow tech giant Apple is also exempt.
The legislation arrives as commercial agreements struck under the 2021 code begin to expire.
Google remains the only major platform with active commercial agreements supporting Australian newsrooms, covering more than 90 news businesses and 226 outlets across national, regional and independent titles, according to the company. Meta ended its arrangements in March 2024.
Rod Sims, the former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair, told this masthead last week the urgency was “huge” and that he was “disappointed it wasn’t sorted out a year ago”.
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Paul Sakkalis Chief Political Correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and won a Walkley award and the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect viaXoremail.
David Swanis the technology editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously technology editor for The Australian newspaper.Connect viaXoremail.
