What’s Going On Here?Australia passed a law on Thursday forcing Big Tech platforms to pay news companies to show their content. What a scoop! What Does This Mean?It’s been a long time in the making and much contested by Google and Facebook, but Australia finally has the exclusive on regulating payment for content. So while other countries like France have taken baby steps toward the same measures, Australia will be the first where – if private talks fail – a government middle-man can set the price domestic media gets paid.
Still, eleventh hour talks with Facebook did lead to some concessions. For starters, the tech giants are free to decide which media outlets to go after and how much they pay them. And if the Australian government thinks they’ve given the local news industry enough money, it never has to get involved. And even if the government decides they haven’t, they’ll have time to strike more deals before being forced into arbitration. Why Should I Care?Zooming out: This could be a watershed moment.
Australia’s regulation might usher in a new era, with Google and Facebook having promised to each pay publishers $1 billion over the next three years. That’s a big step up from the $600 million Facebook’s spent since 2018, and an even bigger one for Google, which previously only pledged to spend $300 million (tweet this). Of course, it could’ve been worse for them if not for those last-minute amendments: the tech giants now have a lot more flexibility, which might be why both sides are claiming victory.
The bigger picture: The best laid regulations often go awry.
Global regulators’ legislative wishlist doesn’t end at payment for content: they’re keen to protect data, harvest taxes, and prevent anti-competitive tactics too. But that’s the irony: regulators might be acting in the best interests of the Average Joe, but the Average Joe could be the first to pay if the tech giants decide to pass the higher costs on… | 
