Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (META) face a proposed 2.25% revenue charge in Australia unless they strike compensation agreements with domestic news publishers, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday.
The draft legislation aims to encourage commercial partnerships by offering penalty offsets of up to 170% for agreements signed with smaller media outlets, Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said.
These financial offsets would effectively reduce the regulatory fee to 1.5% of regional earnings, generating between $200 million and $250 million to support public interest journalism, Albanese said.
All collected funds will be distributed directly to media organizations based on their total number of employed professionals, Minister for Communications Anika Wells said.
The regulatory framework specifically targets digital platforms exceeding thresholds of 10 million search users or 5 million social media users, Mulino added.
Google and Meta did not immediately respond to MT Newswires' request for comment.
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