Australia’s move comes after Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced it would not renew a three-year agreement to pay Australian news publishers for content. File | Photo credit: Reuters
The Australian government announced on Thursday (12 December 2024) that it will tax major digital platforms and search engines unless they agree to share revenue with Australian news organizations.
The tax will apply from January 1 to tech companies that earn more than A$250 million (about 16 billion yen) a year from Australia, according to Deputy Treasurer Stephen Jones and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland. That’s what he said. They include Meta, Google, Alphabet, and ByteDance.
This tax would be offset by money paid to Australian news organizations. The amount of tax is not clear.
Mr Jones told reporters: “The real objective…is not to make a profit. We don’t want to make a profit. The real objective is to reach an agreement between Australian platforms and news media companies. It’s about encouraging that.”
The move comes after Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced it would not renew a three-year agreement to pay Australian news publishers for their content.
The previous government introduced legislation called the New Media Bargaining Bill (NMBC) in 2021, forcing tech giants to enter into revenue sharing agreements with Australian media companies or face fines of 10% of their Australian revenue. did.
Mehta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday (Dec. 12).
issued – December 12, 2024 2:17 PM IST
