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Australia: Google and Facebook will have to pay for published news

2021-02-25T12:31:29.323Z


It is the first law in the world for tech giants to pay for content they upload to their platforms, and it sets a precedent in the battle for the survival of traditional media.


02/25/2021 9:12 AM

  • Clarín.com

  • Economy

  • colloquioidea

Updated 02/25/2021 9:13 AM

The Australian parliament approved a law on Thursday for Google and Facebook to pay local media for the publication of their journalistic content.

It is the first in the world and sets a precedent in the battle for survival for traditional media.

The measure was approved after Facebook and Google reached agreements to avoid being subjected to binding arbitration.

This regulation clears the way for the two digital behemoths to invest tens of millions of dollars in local content deals.

The legislation will ensure that

"media companies receive fair compensation for the content they generate

," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in a statement.

He added: "The code is a significant macroeconomic reform, one that has drawn the world's attention to the Australian Parliament."


In addition, this law could serve as a model for resolving conflicts between technology giants and global regulators

in order to balance the relationship between traditional media and the giants that

dominate the internet and capture a large part of advertising revenue.

Prior to the ruling, Google had already agreed to pay for content

Tech giants


Google

, for its part, had already agreed to pay

"substantial sums"

in exchange for content from Rupert Murdoch's press group News Corp., favorable to the new law.

More entrenched in its position of refusing to pay, Facebook initially took on the Australian authorities and

blocked for a time the publication of links to local or international media news

.

The owner of Instagram and WhatsApp ended up backtracking, with a last-minute agreement with the authorities.

Both

Google and Facebook

, Mark Zuckerberg's group, said they will

invest US $ 1 billion each in news content over the next three years.

Google will pay for news items featured in its new Google News Showcase tool, and Facebook will pay vendors featured in its News product, which it will launch in Australia this year.

In the case of Facebook, the 1 billion announced are in addition to the US $ 600 million injected into the media since 2018.

The entire world is closely following the Australian initiative.

If Google and Facebook seem to have reached a solution in that country,

this does not mean the end of their problems. 

The European Union, Canada and other countries also hope to regulate the sector.

"There is no question that Australia is waging a proxy battle for the whole planet," Australian Finance Minister Josh Frydenberg said Tuesday.

The giants of the digital sector did not want negotiations with the media in Australia to be mandatory and for an independent arbitrator to rule in the event of a conflict.

They feared a precedent that threatened their economic model.

According to the Australian competition authorities, Google captures 53% of advertising in the country and Facebook 28%, while the rest is shared by other market players, such as press groups, insufficient to finance quality journalism .

The press crisis was exacerbated by the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In Australia, dozens of newspapers have closed and hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs.

SN

Source: clarin

All business articles on 2021-02-25

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