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| Will other countries force Facebook and Google to pay for information like Australia? |
On the morning of February 18 this year, Australians woke up to find that all of the local news they shared on the Facebook platform, as well as the pages and accounts of the many government agencies they shared with them, had suddenly disappeared. They use the platform to communicate with citizen news, for example with government health services and weather services.
Facebook did this because the government put into place a bill in the Australian Parliament calling for social media sites and major tech companies, two companies, mainly Facebook and Google, to be required to pay the cost of local media content. .
How did the Facebook crisis with Australia start?
After regulators said companies like Facebook and Google had significant control over spreading information to the public, Australia launched a bold attempt in 2017 to rescue press freedom from major tech companies.
Backed by the country's two largest political parties, the government passed a law last summer that forces large tech companies to pay publishers to use their content in news feeds, summaries, and news search engines.
However, at the same time, tech companies have argued that paying for links in searches and posts will negatively affect the free and open web, while the Australian government and media companies have argued, "The law deals with paying for content, not for links." The Australian government has stated that if technology companies do not start paying for the media, it will lead to the end of free press.
In this context, according to a recent study, Australian media advertising revenue has decreased by 75% over the past fifteen years. Many media outlets have stopped operating after their ad revenue ran out, resulting in many job losses. It decreased with increased revenue from Google and Facebook ads, mainly due to media-generated content.
How are the laws established by the Australian government interpreted?
At the heart of the bill, instead of tightening copyright laws to make digital platforms pay more for the media, Australia has passed an antitrust law that will increase the bargaining power of media companies and intensify negotiations. All negotiations are considered anti-monopoly what is known as "litigation".
The law uses two points to address what the regulator calls a major power imbalance between major tech companies and media companies:
Erstens: Das Gesetz kündigte die endgültige Angebotsschiedsmethode an, die beide Parteien verpflichtet, dem Schiedsrichter ein endgültiges Angebot zu unterbreiten option a, wenn sie da keine Einigung erzielen dönter dönge, undrichtührün dünner Schieden dönter Messages. . The company.
Second, if the negotiations fail, the tech company cannot block the publisher's content. This means that all Australian news content should be hosted on its network or no content at all.
How did Facebook and Google react to that?
Facebook and Google threatened to withdraw from Australia. Facebook took bold steps and completely banned the media on its platform. Google, however, didn't last long. Instead, he quickly sealed a deal with the world, including Australian companies. Payment transactions by media companies.
As a result, Facebook had no choice but to negotiate with the Australian government and reach an agreement that would lift the ban after just five days. It also announced that it would work with news editors and plan to invest another A $ 1 billion. The development of journalism over the next three years is a commitment to journalism.
What does the future of journalism look like?
It appears that the threat from major tech companies has prompted governments around the world to tighten their screws, and are more inclined to pass laws that limit their control and coercion by local publishers.
Hence we find that the Australian government has provided a model for other countries on how to deal with these companies and use competition laws to force big tech companies to pay large enough sums of money for the free press to survive.