Australia to force Google, Facebook to share advertising revenues

SYDNEY: The Australian government has decided to force tech giants Google and Facebook to share their lucrative advertising revenues with media outlets as reimbursement for using their content.

The government is also implementing mandatory code of conduct in this regard that would later be made law so that the move could be easily applied to these tech companies.

“It is about holding these tech titans to account, about ensuring genuine competition, (and) it is about delivering a level playing field,” Treasurers Josh Frydenberg said in a statement.

“It is about keeping jobs in journalism and it is about ensuring a fair outcome for all,” he added.

According to the government official, the US-based firms have earned lucrative profits by capturing two-thirds of online advertising spending of Australia’s news industry.

“Since they [Google, Facebook] started using the news and other content digitally, revenues of Australian news industry started falling and many outlets slashed 20 percent of jobs in the last six years,” Frydenberg said.

“We understand the challenge that we face. This is a big mountain to climb. These are big companies that we are dealing with, but there is also so much at stake, so we’re prepared for this fight,” he further stated.

Google, Face­book, Twitter and Mozilla must do more to combat fake news as Europeans head towards an election or the companies will face the threat of regulatory action, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

Companies and trade bodies representing the advertising industry signed up to a voluntary code of conduct in October to ward off more he­­avy-handed legislation. Cri­tics say not enough has been done since they signed up.

The European Union’s executive said signatories to the code of practice had taken steps to remove fake accounts and limit sites promoting fake news but said more was needed.

“Now they should make sure these tools are available to everyone across the EU, monitor their efficiency, and continuously adapt to new means used by those spreading disinformation. There is no time to waste,” EU Commissioner for the 

Digital Sin­g­­le Market Andrus Ansip said.

European Parliament will hold elections in May while Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Poland, Por­­­t­­ugal and Ukraine all go to the polls in coming months.