Overview
- Australia has published draft Media Bargaining Incentive rules that would charge major platforms a 2.25% levy on Australian revenue if they do not reach commercial deals with local publishers.
- Meta published a formal objection on Thursday saying the levy is poorly designed, discriminates against a handful of foreign firms and will not sustain a diverse news sector.
- Meta argued the levy 'plainly violates' the Australia–U.S. Free Trade Agreement and warned the move could trigger trade scrutiny or action from the United States.
- The draft specifically targets Meta, Google and TikTok while allowing companies to reduce or avoid the levy by striking payment deals; any collected funds would be allocated to newsrooms based on journalist headcounts.
- Supporters, including Communications Minister Anika Wells, say the measure could yield up to AU$250 million for news outlets and follows earlier bargaining-code clashes in 2021 and Meta’s 2024 withdrawal of news features.