Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Vote on Australia’s pay-for-news bill expected Tuesday

Australia continues to wrangle with Big Tech over paying for news content.

Proposed legislation in that country would have Facebook and Google pay news outlets for material. It’s a case that’s being closely watched around the world. The final vote on the bill is expected tomorrow.

The laws would allow the government to name an arbitrator to determine content licensing fees if private negotiations get nowhere, says Reuters.

In response to the Australian effort, Facebook banned Australian news outlets from adding links to their material on Facebook.

Google, for its part, has made content deals with News Corp, Nine, Seven West Media and Guardian Australia and smaller outlets, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post that his company endorses the Australian proposal to require tech gatekeepers to share revenue with local independent news organizations and would support a similar proposal in the U.S., Canada, the EU and other places.

News & Tech

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