Digital platforms such as Google and Facebook’s parent company Meta have been warned by the Australian government to negotiate more agreements setting fair prices for using news content.
Following the introduction of the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, more than 30 commercial agreements were struck in its first year. But a review by Treasury has found none of the agreements were likely to have been made without the code, and made five recommendations to improve the framework.
The government has announced it would implement all recommendations, and that another review of the code will take place in early 2025, when the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will be directed to prepare reports on the digital platforms that should be covered by it.
Big Winners, Smaller Losers
Overall, Australia’s three biggest players in print media—News Corp, Nine, and Seven West Media—have received hundreds of millions of dollars in payments from the tech platforms. Estimates suggest that these entities will together gain around 90 percent of Facebook’s and Google’s total Australian contributions under the code.According to information provided to the ACCC, Google’s agreements with Nine Entertainment and Seven West Media run for five years, and its global agreement with News Corporation runs for three years.
Google did not provide information on the terms of its agreements with other news businesses.
Meta submitted that it has reached commercial agreements with 13 news businesses, but did not provide a list of these agreements. Unlike Google, it has not reached agreements with news businesses such as Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) or The Conversation.
Meta Claims It Can’t Afford to Pay
Indeed, Meta “appeared to cease negotiations during the second half of 2021,” according to the ACCC, and submitted that: “The budget to support content agreements for these products was limited and it was therefore inevitable that some news businesses would not receive a deal.”Meta Platforms’ gross profit for the 12 months ending Sept. 30 was $149.85 billion (US$100.4 billion), a 5.8 percent increase year-over-year.
Australian news entities can participate in the code if they are registered by the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA), have annual revenues exceeding $150,000 per year and can demonstrate that they can produce core news on issues or events of public significance at a local, regional or national level.
Among the recommendations accepted by the government is commissioning an ACCC report on “whether significant bargaining power imbalances exist between these digital platforms and Australian news businesses.”
Government: We Have the Power and We Will Use It
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the government was glad to support the “sensible” recommendations.“But let us be very clear: we already have the power to designate digital platforms and we are prepared to use it. [But] we want to see news outlets and digital platforms come together and negotiate in good faith,” he said.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the government wanted to ensure the sustainability of public interest journalism in the digital age.
“Supporting these recommendations will help improve the framework overall and ensure Australian news media businesses are properly remunerated for their journalistic content through commercial deals with platforms,” she said.
The law does not mandate how much Facebook and Google should pay for news, and there is no guarantee that news outlets will use the money for public interest journalism.
