Australian Finance Minister Josh Frydenberg met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week to discuss the country’s upcoming News Media Bargaining Code. Bargaining Code). The code will force tech giants to pay local media to display news content.
However, the Facebook chief executive seems unable to shift the Australian government’s stance on the new rules.
Frydenberg revealed on ABC Insiders on Saturday (Jan. 30) that he and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher had a “very constructive discussion” with Zuckerberg last week about the News Media Bargaining Code and its “impact on Facebook. The discussion was “very constructive.
When asked by the host if “Zuckerberg was able to change the authorities’ minds,” Frydenberg replied, “Mark Zuckerberg didn’t convince me to back down, if that’s what you’re asking.”
The Australian Treasurer has repeatedly said on the show that the world is now closely watching the country’s news media bargaining regulations. He revealed that even tech giant Microsoft (Microsoft) is following developments.
“The prime minister (Scott Morrison, Scott Morrison) has spoken to the CEO and president of Microsoft, and you know they have Microsoft Bing (search engine service, Microsoft Bing).” Frydenberg said, “They are looking at this closely and no doubt they see an opportunity to expand the market in Australia. What we’re doing is world-leading.”
The news media bargaining regulations that the Australian government wants to introduce will set up processes to allow local news media companies to negotiate payment agreements with online platforms such as Google and Facebook.
For years, these tech giants have gained massive amounts of web traffic and users by displaying news content for free, while monetizing (earning) traffic by selling ads. The bargaining regulations were introduced in part to address this issue and “level the playing field” between the tech giants and local news companies, according to the report.
“In Australia, for every $100 advertisers spend on online advertising – $47 goes to Google, $24 to Facebook and $29 to other players.” Frydenberg said.
Faced with new regulations about to hit the road, both Google and Facebook have said they are prepared to remove news content from their platforms altogether to avoid paying the news media.
Google went a step further last week, telling a Senate committee that it was considering pulling its Google search service out of Australia altogether as a last resort, opening the door for other competitors Microsoft Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo to enter the market.
Rob Nicholls, a competition law expert and associate professor at the University of New South Wales, told The Epoch Times that Silicon Valley’s strong reaction was due to concerns that Australia’s “news media bargaining regulations” would have a domino effect on global regulation.
Nicholls said, “[The media bargaining legislation] will embolden other jurisdictions to push for results similar to those in France, or the Australian proposal.” Google recently agreed to pay 300 French news publishers to display news content.
Australian regulators are currently opening several fronts in restricting the tech giant’s dealings, including a review of Google’s acquisition of FitBit and a pending lawsuit against Facebook for secretly harvesting personal data through a subsidiary. Last week, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released a new report on Google’s online advertising business, showing that billions of dollars were involved.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said, “In line with Google’s significant position in the overall ad tech supply chain, coupled with its significant data dominance, means that Google likely has the ability and incentive to treat its own ad tech business preferentially in a way that affects competition.”
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