SYDNEY, Australia (CU)_The US Government has requested Australia to throw out its proposed laws that will make tech giants Google and Facebook pay for news sourced from local media outlets.
In a submission issued by US trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers, the officials requested the Australian government to “suspend” the plans, and instead “further study the markets, and if appropriate, develop a voluntary code”.
“In the view of the United States, it would be preferable to pursue additional market study and consultation to identify a specific market failure that might be addressed first though a voluntary code, and if demonstrably ineffective, through Australia’s regulatory rule-making process where stakeholders can participate by weighing in on options and providing evidence in support of or opposition to specific proposals,” the submission stated.
The officials further noted that the proposed legislation is unreasonable, impractical, “fundamentally imbalanced” and could run counter to the US-Australia free trade agreement.
Under this proposed legislation, if the tech giants fail to reach a commercial agreement on payments to Australian media, they would be subject to mandatory price arbitration.
The Australian government announced the legislation last month after an investigation found that Google and Facebook held too much market power in the media industry, which was seen as a potential threat to a well-functioning democracy.
These proposed laws have received broad political support in Australia and is currently before a senate committee.
When inquired regarding the recent US submission, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the government “is committed to proceeding with a mandatory code” that would address “the bargaining power imbalances with digital platforms and media companies.”
Meanwhile, after a series of intense lobbying by the Australian government, Google and Facebook have suggested that if the proposed laws are not thrown out, they may be forced to limit their offerings in the country.
Earlier this week, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that Google has decided to hide some Australian news sites from its search results in the recent days. Although the tech giant insists that this was merely one of the tens of thousands of experiments carried out by the company in Google Search, however, experts say the move was a response to this proposed legislation by the Australian Government.
