Big tech hits back at Labor's news payment plan

Big tech hits back at Labor government's Media Bargaining Incentive plan By chief digital political correspondent Clare ArmstrongTopic:Media Industry1h ago1 hours agoTue 28 Apr 2026 at 9:18amThe government wants to charge a dedicated levy on the Australian revenue of tech giants unless they strike deals with news outlets. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)In short:Labor has unveiled a new Media Bargaining Incentive to tax large digital platforms up to 2.25 per cent of Australian revenue unless they strike deals to pay for local journalism.Meta and Google have criticised the plan as unfair, while media companies say it is essential to keep the sector viable.What's next?The draft legislation will go through consultation, with lobbying expected from both tech firms and media groups, with questions over carve-outs and the exclusion of AI companies.abc.net.au/news/big-tech-hits-back-at-labors-media-bargaining-plan/106617532Link copiedShareShare articleUS tech giant Meta has condemned Labor's plan to tax large digital platforms that fail to pay for using Australian journalism as "government-mandated transfer of wealth".Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday announced details of the new Media Bargaining Incentive, which he said would stop tech platforms sidestepping their "obligations" under existing laws to fairly compensate media organisations.Tech companies were swift to criticise the draft legislation, with even Google — which has made numerous deals with media organisations for use of news content — rejecting the tax as unnecessary.The exclusion of platforms like Microsoft, Snapchat and OpenAI has also been criticised by companies that are captured by the new incentive, which will now be subject to further consultation.Anthony Albanese says the new incentive will stop tech platforms sidestepping their "obligations". (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)News outlets welcomed the government's plan as a "critical step", warning that if digital platforms did not pay for the news content "from which they profit" then journalism in Australia would become "unsustainable".The government expects the new proposal to generate between $200 million and $250 million in revenue that would be entirely distributed to newsrooms.The architect of the original code has said Labor's draft strikes the "right balance," but raised concerns that smaller media organisations might not get the full benefit.Meta unleashes on Labor's proposalIn a statement, a Meta spokeswoman dismissed the premise of the incentive, arguing news organisations "voluntarily" post content on their platforms because they "receive value from doing so"."This proposed legislation, which would apply to platforms regardless of whether news content even appears on our services, is nothing more than a digital services tax," she said.The spokeswoman said a "government-mandated transfer of wealth" with "no connection to the value exchanged" would not deliver a "sustainable or innovative news sector".The scathing reaction from Meta, which owns platforms like Facebook and Instagram, comes after the company refused to renew deals with news organisations initially made under the News Media Bargaining Code, first introduced in 2021.Meta instead effectively sidestepped the code by removing and de-prioritising news rather than being forced to pay for the content.To address this loophole, Labor's incentive proposal would apply to major platforms regardless of whether they hosted news.Doing deals will be cheaper than…

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