An Australian law giving the government power to make Internet giants Facebook and Google negotiate content supply deals with media outlets has largely worked, a government report said on Thursday.
However, the law — which took effect in March last year, after talks with the big tech firms led to a brief shutdown of Facebook news feeds in the country — might need to be extended to other online platforms, the report by the Australian Department of the Treasury said.
Since the News Media Bargaining Code took effect, the tech firms had inked more than 30 deals with media outlets compensating them for content that generated clicks and advertising income, it said.
Photo: AFP
“Some of these agreements have enabled news businesses to, in particular, employ additional journalists and make other valuable investments to assist their operations,” the report said. “While views on the success or otherwise of the Code will invariably differ, we consider it is reasonable to conclude that the Code has been a success.”
The report mostly recommended that the government consider new methods of assessing the administration and effectiveness of the law, and did not suggest changing the law itself.
However, it did note the law lacked “a formal mechanism to extend the Code to other platforms,” and suggested the government order the competition regulator, which led the design of the law, to “prepare reports on this question.”
“The review shows the Code has been successful balancing bargaining power between news media and digital platforms,” Australian Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said. “Digital platforms must continue to negotiate in good faith with news businesses to ensure they are fairly remunerated for the news content they create.”
Google director of government affairs and public policy in Australia Lucinda Longcroft said the company had “furthered our significant contribution to the Australian news industry” by signing deals representing 200 mastheads across the country, adding that “the majority of these outlets are regional or local.”
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