Albanese risks Trump backlash with plan to make tech giants pay for journalism

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted he would make calls in Australia’s national interest, after he put forward a plan to slap a charge on US tech firms to fund Australian journalism just days after US President Donald Trump threatened the UK with more tariffs over its tech tax.

Albanese released details of the proposed News Bargaining Incentive on Tuesday, including a 2.25 per cent charge on the Australian revenue of Meta, Google and TikTok if they refuse to strike voluntary deals worth hundreds of millions to pay Australian news companies for article links.

Several US companies criticised the proposed incentive: Meta called it “nothing more than a digital services tax” and Google questioned why other companies, such as Microsoft, Snapchat and OpenAI, were not caught by the draft legislation.

The scheme, which this masthead revealed last year had been put on ice as Australia scrambled to assuage Trump’s concerns, would allow the tech giants to reduce their charge to zero, or close to zero, if they paid media firms for content.

Australia has insisted in its public messaging that the charge on tech giants would not constitute a tax. Government ministers have tried to avoid the ire of the US administration, which has threatened countries trying to extract revenue from the social media giants.

The government said it would not put any revenue into Commonwealth coffers, insisting it would distribute money to media firms based on how many journalists they employ.

“We’re a sovereign nation and my government will make decisions based upon the Australian national interest,” Albanese said when asked about the US administration.

On Friday, Trump lashed out at the UK for its tax, enacted in 2020, which levies tech firms at 2 per cent of their revenue.

“We’ve been looking at it, and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful,” Trump said.

Digital giants chastised the government on Tuesday, using language that might test the Trump administration’s relationship with Australia. Australia has not been targeted by special tariffs from the administration, but US industries such as pharmaceuticals and beef have complained that Australian practices, such as safety protocols or public health schemes, serve as trade barriers.

Trump – who is deeply unpopular in Australia, according to the Resolve Political Monitor – has repeatedly called out Australia for its stance on the war in Iran and the mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He has failed to articulate what Australia had done wrong in his eyes, and Albanese has insisted the US never made a formal request for greater assistance.

Meta, the tech company most antagonistic to the proposal, said in a statement: “News organisations voluntarily post content on our platforms because they receive value from doing so. The idea that we take their news content is simply wrong.

“A government-mandated transfer of wealth from one industry to another, with no connection to the value exchanged, will not deliver a sustainable or innovative news sector. Instead, it will create a news industry dependent on a government-administered subsidy scheme.”

Google, which unlike other tech firms has continued to honour deals with media companies, said it was reviewing the announcement but had “been clear: we reject the need for this tax”.

“It ignores the fact that Google already has commercial agreements with the news industry, misunderstands how the ad market changed and mandates payments from some companies while arbitrarily excluding platforms like Microsoft, Snapchat and OpenAI,” Google said in a statement.

As this masthead reported, LinkedIn does not appear in the legislation’s initial scope despite distributing news to Australian users. The Microsoft-owned platform also has its own editorial team and dedicated news tab. Fellow tech giant Apple is also exempt.

TikTok declined to comment.

Albanese said he was hopeful the deals struck would amount to $250 million, adding that local journalism shouldn’t “be taken by a large multinational corporation and used to generate profits.

“This is not about government revenue. Every single dollar will go back to journalists. We think that investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy. It matters.”

The government debated internally whether it would be contentious if a minister had the power to determine how much revenue was given to each media company. It chose a model that funds a media company per journalist, in the hopes of avoiding making judgment calls on which media companies are worthy.

The new scheme was sought after Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, pulled out of a Morrison-era scheme that drew in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for media companies. The model is designed to force Meta back to the negotiating table after it suggested last year it would simply pull news off its platforms, as it has done in Canada for several years, prompting the government to re-jig its framework.

The announcement drew immediate support from Australia’s major news organisations, which issued a joint statement backing the legislation. The heads of the ABC, Nine – owner of this masthead – News Corp, Network Ten, SBS, Southern Cross Media, Australian Community Media and The Guardian Australia said the future of local journalism was at stake.

“The vibrancy of Australian democracy relies on the robust and open exchange of news, views and opinions,” the group said. “This is under threat.

“While Google has been positive about doing deals, others need to come to the table, and all platforms need to step up.”

The companies said it had been more than two years since Meta abandoned previous commercial deals and 18 months since the government first announced the News Bargaining Incentive.

Under the proposed scheme, platforms with more than $250 million in annual Australian revenue will be included.

Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino said social media sites with over 5 million users and search sites with more than 10 million users would be covered by the proposed laws.

The incentive is designed to encourage technology companies, which are worth trillions and control much of the distribution of information in the world, to pay much smaller publishing companies for their use of news reports that engage their users and help them to sell ads. The companies are also increasingly deploying AI chatbots and tools that reproduce and link to Australian journalism.

The legislation arrives as commercial agreements struck under the 2021 code begin to expire.

Google is the only major platform with active commercial agreements supporting Australian newsrooms, covering more than 90 news businesses and 226 outlets across national, regional and independent titles, according to the company. Meta ended its arrangements in March 2024.