The Australian government has unveiled a draft News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) scheme, which would impose a 2.25% levy on the local revenues of tech giants such as Google, Meta, and TikTok unless they strike deals with Australian media outlets to pay for news content. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that digital platforms should not exploit journalists' work to boost profits without fair compensation.
Under the proposed scheme, platforms with annual Australian revenue exceeding $250 million and a significant user base—5 million for social media and 10 million for search engines—would be subject to the levy. Companies like Google, Meta, and TikTok currently meet these thresholds. The government expects the plan to raise up to $250 million annually for Australian journalism.
Tech companies have strongly criticised the proposal. A Meta spokesperson called the government's position 'simply wrong,' arguing that '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.' Google rejected the need for reform, pointing to its existing commercial agreements with 90 news businesses and 226 outlets, and criticised the exclusion of AI platforms like Microsoft, Snapchat, and OpenAI.
Under the NBI, platforms can avoid the levy by entering into new agreements with media outlets, with offsets of up to 170% for deals with smaller publishers. If no deals are made, the government will collect the levy and distribute it to media outlets based on journalist numbers. The scheme replaces the previous News Media Bargaining Code, which Meta declined to renew, ending deals worth about $70 million annually.
Former ACCC chair Allan Fels, now chair of the Public Interest Journalism Initiative, urged swift implementation, stating that delays have reinforced the imbalance in bargaining power between digital platforms and news publishers.
