The Australian government on Tuesday introduced a draft measure that would charge Meta, Alphabet’s Google and TikTok a 2.25% levy on their Australian revenues unless they negotiate deals to compensate local news outlets for content that appears on their platforms.
Under the proposed News Bargaining Incentive, the levy would be applied beginning in the 2025-26 financial year, which commences on July 1. Revenues collected under the measure would be redistributed to news organisations to support journalism, with allocations determined by the number of journalists employed by each outlet, according to the government.
Communications Minister Anika Wells framed the proposal as a fairness measure, saying people increasingly obtain news directly from platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Google. She said it was reasonable for large digital platforms to contribute to journalism that enriches their feeds and underpins their revenue streams.
"People are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, from TikTok and from Google, and we believe it’s only fair that large digital platforms contribute to the hard work of journalism that enriches their feeds and that drives their revenue," Wells said at a news conference. She added that platforms that do not reach deals will face higher payments through the levy: "Platforms should do deals with news organisations. If they decide not to, they will end up paying more."
The draft legislation would allow platforms to obtain larger offsets if they reach agreements with smaller news organisations, creating a structure that favors negotiated payments over the automatic imposition of the levy.
The government described the incentive as a replacement for laws enacted in 2021 that required technology firms to pay for news content, saying those previous rules were "no longer working effectively." No further detail on the mechanics of the transition from the 2021 legislation to the new incentive was provided in the announcement.
The move has potential diplomatic implications. U.S. President Donald Trump has opposed digital services taxes on American technology companies and has threatened tariffs on countries that implement such measures. In response to that stated stance, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the same news conference: "We’re a sovereign nation. And my government will make decisions based upon the Australian national interest."
The government’s announcement follows earlier confrontations between platforms and Australian publishers. After the introduction of earlier rules, Meta briefly blocked users from reposting news articles, but subsequently negotiated deals with several Australian media firms; those agreements later expired in 2024.
At the time of the announcement, a spokesperson for TikTok declined to comment. Meta and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This initiative is structured as an incentive for platforms to strike commercial arrangements with news publishers. If they do not, the proposed levy will operate as a financial mechanism to direct funds to news organisations, with greater offsets provided for agreements benefiting smaller outlets. The government asserts this approach is needed because prior legislative measures are no longer achieving their intended effect.