Australia is preparing to broaden its media payment framework, requiring major technology platforms to negotiate with more news organizations as the government seeks to spread digital advertising revenue across a wider section of the country’s journalism industry.
Platforms Must Reach Deals With at Least Eight Media Companies
One of the most significant changes concerns how widely technology-platform payments must be distributed.
Reuters reported that platforms covered by the scheme will need agreements with at least eight media companies, increased from six under an earlier version of the legislation.
The change followed negotiations between Australia’s government and opposition and is intended to ensure that a larger number of news organizations benefit from the system.
The legislation also limits how much of the available funding can be concentrated with one publisher.
An individual media agreement will be capped at 25% of a platform’s levy liability, while covered technology companies face a levy equal to 2.5% of their Australian advertising revenue.
Payments made through qualifying agreements with news organizations can offset the amount companies owe under that levy.
Australian Associated Press Secures 5% of Funds
The revised model includes specific support for Australian Associated Press, or AAP.
TradingView said the government has committed 5% of funds raised through the system to AAP, a nonprofit newswire supplying text, photographs and video to Australian publishers.
AAP nearly closed in 2020 before being transformed from an industry-owned organization into a nonprofit operation.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the revised structure reflects the different ways Australians now consume journalism.
TradingView quoted Wells as saying the distribution model would “better support smaller and diverse media organisations.”
Meta’s Withdrawal Helped Force a Redesign
Australia has already spent years attempting to require digital platforms to compensate news publishers.
Reuters reported that the country introduced its original News Media Bargaining Code in 2021, requiring companies such as Google and Facebook owner Meta to negotiate commercial agreements with media organizations.
The previous framework allowed a government-appointed arbitrator to determine payment terms when platforms and publishers failed to reach agreements themselves.
The model was disrupted after Meta decided it no longer wanted to renew its Australian news-payment arrangements.
Canberra began redesigning its approach after Meta announced that it would stop paying publishers for news content in Australia and other markets.
TikTok and LinkedIn Face Wider Payment Rules
The new system also expands beyond the companies targeted by the original bargaining law.
The reworked framework is expected to cover platforms including TikTok and Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, widening the group of technology companies potentially required to participate.
The broader system reflects Australia’s continued effort to ensure technology platforms financially support the news organizations whose journalism circulates through their services.
The revised law therefore goes beyond reviving Australia’s original confrontation with Google and Meta. By requiring more publisher agreements, reserving funding for AAP and potentially bringing TikTok and LinkedIn into the system, Canberra is trying to make its media-payment model harder for platforms to avoid while distributing the benefits beyond the country’s largest publishers.
