The Australian government has unveiled draft legislation that would impose a 2.25% levy on the local revenues of Google, Meta and TikTok unless the platforms negotiate commercial deals to pay news publishers for journalism, closing a loophole in the country's existing media bargaining laws that allowed tech companies to sidestep payments entirely.
The proposed News Bargaining Incentive (NBI), released on Tuesday, replaces the 2021 News Media Bargaining Code, which regulators said was "no longer working effectively" after Meta declined to renew deals worth approximately A$70 million and reduced the visibility of news content on Facebook and Instagram.
That withdrawal triggered widespread job cuts across Australian newsrooms.
"People are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, from TikTok, and from Google, and we believe it's only fair that large digital platforms contribute to the hard work of journalism that enriches their feeds and that drives their revenue," Communications Minister Anika Wells said.
The critical difference from the original code is that platforms will be taxed whether they carry news or not, removing the option of simply blocking news links to avoid payment.
Under the draft, platforms with more than A$250 million in Australian-linked revenue and at least five million social media users or a 10-million-user search base would face the full 2.25% charge.
The more deals a platform strikes with news organisations, the lower the effective rate, falling to 1.5% if sufficient agreements are reached.
The system incentivises deals with smaller publishers by offering higher offsets for those agreements.
The government estimates the measure would return between A$200 million and A$250 million ($144 million to $179 million) a year to Australian journalism, roughly equivalent to what platforms paid at the peak of the original code's operation.
Revenue collected through the levy would be distributed among news organisations based on the number of journalists each employs.
The legislation explicitly excludes artificial intelligence services from its scope.
Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino said AI "is not included in the scope of this measure," noting that other policy forums are examining the intersection of AI and copyright.
TikTok's inclusion marks a notable expansion from the original code, which targeted only Google and Meta.
All three affected platforms are American-owned, and US critics have previously argued that Australia's media bargaining framework disproportionately burdens American companies.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed potential pushback from Washington.
"We're a sovereign nation and my government will make decisions based upon the Australian national interest," he said.
The government intends to introduce the legislation to parliament by 2 July, with the levy applying from the same date.
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Public consultation on the draft closes on 18 May.
Meta, Google and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment, though all three platforms criticised the proposal as a "digital services tax" that misunderstood the advertising industry and would fail to deliver a sustainable news sector.
The recap
- Draft News Bargaining Incentive proposes a 2.25% revenue levy.
- Levy falls to 1.5% if sufficient publisher deals occur.
- Platforms must comply by July or pay the levy.
