Google and Facebook Forced to Pay

Following a wave of support to speed up the regulation of Google and Facebook, the Australian government on Monday announced that it will introduce a mandatory code to force the tech giants to pay publishers for content.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, along with Communications Minister Paul Fletcher, issued a joint statement today, instructing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to develop the code.

The code will cover issues related to data sharing, the rank and display of news content on feeds, enforcement mechanisms, and most importantly, revenue sharing from news content.

As the technology of the digital platforms has evolved, so too has their market dominance.

By creating a mandatory code, were seeking to be the first country in the world that successfully requires these social media giants to pay for original news content. pic.twitter.com/vhMaQab2E4

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) April 19, 2020

A draft of the code will be released at the end of July 2020 for consultation.

May 2020 was the original deadline set for the media companies and tech giants to negotiate a voluntary code.

However, the federal government received advice from the ACCC that progress was slow, and an agreement unlikely.

This ultimately forced the hand of the government—pushed along by the fallout from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

In recent weeks the CCP virus effect on the economy has forced media businesses into widespread cost-cutting, with the government stepping in last week with a media relief package.

The governments announcement today follows hot on the heels of a decision by the French competition regulator on April 9 to force Google to negotiate an agreement with French media companies for content.

In the United States, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple are facing antitrust investigations on several fronts.

Why a Code in Australia?

The ACCC began its investigation into Google and Facebook in December 2017 in response to concerns of the “substantial market power” of the two companies in Australia.

In July 2019, it released the Digital Platforms Inquiry report. The ACCC found a significant portion of advertising was being diverted to Google and Facebook.

One key issue was how Google and Facebook grew their user base and generated web traffic by posting contenRead More – Source