On Thursday, the Australian federal parliament approved the News Bargaining Incentive, a national law designed to support local journalism by requiring large digital platforms to either negotiate commercial agreements with Australian news publishers or pay a levy on their advertising revenue.
How the levy works
The legislation imposes a 2.5% tax on the advertising revenues of platforms that have a “significant” social media or search service in Australia and generate more than A$250 million (about $178 million) in local ad revenue. The levy applies to Meta, Alphabet’s Google, TikTok and Microsoft’s LinkedIn.
Platforms can avoid the charge by securing agreements with at least eight distinct Australian publishers before the end of their reporting period. The monetary value of those deals is offset against the levy liability, with a 150% offset for large publishers and a 200% offset for small and medium‑sized outlets. No single agreement may exceed 25% of a platform’s total levy.
Purpose and expected impact
Proceeds from the levy are earmarked for Australian news organisations, acknowledging that their content drives user engagement and advertising revenue on the platforms. The government said the measure sends a clear message that platforms must contribute fairly to the news ecosystem that underpins their own business models.
“This is an important day for Australian news businesses and Australian journalism,” a government spokesperson said in a statement. “The legislation is here, and the message to platforms to pursue commercial deals is clear.”
Context of the reform
The new law follows a series of international efforts to address the perceived imbalance between tech giants and local media, where platforms profit from news content without compensating the creators. Australia previously introduced a mandatory bargaining code in 2021, which led to high‑profile negotiations with Meta and Google. The News Bargaining Incentive builds on that framework by offering a levy as a fallback when voluntary agreements cannot be reached.
The passage of the law coincided with parliament’s approval of stricter rules on gambling advertisements, indicating a broader legislative focus on protecting Australian consumers and domestic industries.
What comes next
Platforms now have a limited window to negotiate the required deals before their next financial reporting period. Failure to do so will trigger the levy, potentially costing the companies millions of dollars each quarter.
Industry observers will watch closely how quickly platforms move to secure agreements and how the additional funding influences the viability of regional and community news outlets across the country.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
