Laws targeting social media companies in Australia will remain in place despite U.S. tech giants pressuring President Donald Trump to take retaliatory action.
Moves by the federal government to force social media companies to pay media organisations for content on their platforms have prompted calls for Australia to be targeted.
A formal complaint was lodged by the Computer and Communications Industry Association in the U.S., calling the laws “coercive and discriminatory.”
But a federal government spokesman said the media laws would be unchanged.
“The Albanese government will always stand up for Australian media and Australian journalism. It matters. We respect it. We will fight to protect it,” the spokesman said.
“It is designed to encourage big digital platforms to continue to enter into commercial deals with news media organisations.”
“Everything we’ve proposed in the digital space applies equally to countries who operate in Australia, regardless of where they are based.”
Among those represented by the U.S. communications peak body is X, owned by Elon Musk, who is a key figure in the Trump administration.
Musk had previously called the Australian government “fascists” over efforts to crack down on misinformation on social media.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the reaction from the U.S. companies was predictable.
“It’s not surprising that the tech giants would have that view,” he told Sky News on March 21.
“Our job is to make decisions in Australia’s national interest, to protect kids online, for example, or to make sure that there’s a level playing field in our media with our media organisations.”
“It’s self evident that (tech billionaires) are very close with the U.S. administration. Our focus and our job is to make our case in the U.S., as we have been doing,” he said.
“A lot of people around the country, not just parents, but including parents, they want to make sure that they’re appropriate protections for people online. The tech giants won’t always like that.”
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Australians would not be bullied by tech billionaires in the U.S.
“As a sovereign and independent country, Australia has the right to make laws that represent our values as a fair society and protect our citizens online,” she said.
“We will not allow tech billionaires to undermine measures that keep our communities safe and cohesive.”
The calls coincide with Australia being slapped with 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium exports by the Trump administration.
There are fears further trade measures will soon be applied to other Australian products such as pharmaceuticals and beef, some of the largest exports to the U.S.
National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said the peak body had been in regular contact with U.S. counterparts to argue against tariffs being imposed on agricultural goods.
He said it was better for both Australia and the U.S. if the measures were not put in place.
“Last time tariffs were imposed, it made their goods more expensive for their consumers,” Jochinke told ABC Radio.
“We haven’t been displacing the product that they are producing within country. It’s been benefiting the shortfall that they’ve got, especially around beef at the moment.
“They require beef from somewhere, and we want to be that supplier of choice.”
