The Australian Treasury has ordered national competition watchdogs to create a code of conduct for Facebook and Google, which will force tech giants to pay for Australian media companies for content use. ABC News (AU) report. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission was trying to develop a voluntary code of conduct, but told the Australian government that it was impossible to obtain voluntary consent on the issue of content payment.
ACCC worked on the code as part of a series of recommendations in the 2019 Digital Platform Inquiry. Finance Minister Josh Friedenberg said in this survey at the time, along with privacy concerns, Australia, Google and Facebook accounted for a significant portion of online advertising revenue, even if a lot of the content came from media agencies.
The report required voluntary codes to require companies to negotiate news media and content payment methods, and to inform media companies of algorithmic changes that could affect their ranking of online content. The mandatory code written by ACCC includes penalties and defines what will be included. alphabet.
"It's fair for people who create content to pay," Friedenberg said.
Australian newspapers and media outlets, such as newspapers from the United States and other countries, were hit hard by the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus epidemic. guardian report. A large media company in Australia has asked employees to cut wages, and advertising revenue has dropped sharply, causing some newspapers to stop producing.
The draft code of conduct will be finalized by the end of July. guardian.
Will Easton, Managing Director, Facebook Australia and New Zealand The budge According to the Australian government's announcement, the company is said to be "disappointed." He said Facebook invested “millions of dollars” to support Australian publishers through content preparation, partnerships and training.
“COVID-19 has impacted all businesses and industries across the country, including publishers, so we have announced a new global investment to support the news organization at a time when advertising revenues decline. Promised to invest in the news industry. "We believe that strong innovation and transparency in terms of distributing news content are critical to building a sustainable news ecosystem."
Google did not immediately ask for comments The Verge.
ET April 19, 9:09 PM Update: Added a statement from the Facebook representative.