AGL 38.54 Increased By ▲ 0.97 (2.58%)
AIRLINK 129.50 Decreased By ▼ -3.00 (-2.26%)
BOP 5.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.53%)
CNERGY 3.86 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (2.39%)
DCL 8.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.58%)
DFML 41.76 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (1.85%)
DGKC 88.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.86 (-2.06%)
FCCL 35.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.23%)
FFBL 67.35 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (1.28%)
FFL 10.61 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (4.53%)
HUBC 108.76 Increased By ▲ 2.36 (2.22%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.26%)
KOSM 6.95 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.46%)
MLCF 41.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.36%)
NBP 59.60 Increased By ▲ 1.02 (1.74%)
OGDC 183.00 Increased By ▲ 1.75 (0.97%)
PAEL 26.25 Increased By ▲ 0.55 (2.14%)
PIBTL 5.97 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (2.4%)
PPL 146.70 Decreased By ▼ -1.70 (-1.15%)
PRL 23.61 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (1.68%)
PTC 16.56 Increased By ▲ 1.32 (8.66%)
SEARL 68.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.71%)
TELE 7.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.14%)
TOMCL 35.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.14%)
TPLP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (6.08%)
TREET 14.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.28%)
TRG 50.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.79%)
UNITY 26.75 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (1.33%)
WTL 1.21 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 9,806 Increased By 37.8 (0.39%)
BR30 29,678 Increased By 278.1 (0.95%)
KSE100 92,304 Increased By 366.3 (0.4%)
KSE30 28,840 Increased By 96.6 (0.34%)
World

Australia's political opposition to support Facebook, Google legislation

  • Outside Australia, Google and a French publishers' lobby group agreed in January to a copyright framework for the tech firm to pay news publishers for content online.
Published February 16, 2021

CANBERRA: Australia's political opposition will support proposed legislation that would force Alphabet's Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for content, two sources briefed on the matter said.

Prospects for the bill, which the US tech giants fiercely oppose, are being widely watched around the world as other countries are expected to follow suit if Australia is successful in its efforts.

Lawmakers from Australia's centre-left Labor party endorsed the bill at a meeting in Canberra on Tuesday, said the sources, who were not authorised to speak to media on the matter and declined to be identified.

It needs support from the opposition as Prime Minister Scott Morrison's ruling Liberal party does not have a majority in the country's upper house. The bill is expected to be introduced into parliament this week.

Representatives for Google and Facebook did not immediately respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

Google has described the legislation as "unworkable" and has threatened to withdraw its search engine from Australia. Both companies are lobbying hard for the legislation to be softened, with senior executives holding talks with Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

Google has asked for series of changes, most notably having its new platform, Showcase, covered by the legislation rather than search results generated.

This week, Australia's Seven West Media Ltd became the country's first major news outlet to strike a licensing deal with Google.

In doing so, it has split from rivals News Corp and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd which have failed to reach agreements with Google and instead backed the legislation which calls for an arbiter to set content fees in the absence of a private deal.

Outside Australia, Google and a French publishers' lobby group agreed in January to a copyright framework for the tech firm to pay news publishers for content online.

Last month, Reuters said it had signed a deal with Google to be the first global news provider to Google News Showcase. Reuters is owned by news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp.

Comments

Comments are closed.