The Australian government has passed new legislation to require Facebook and Google to pay for news content.
Josh Frydenberg, the Australian Liberal party’s deputy leader, tweeted that “this legislation will help level the playing field and see Australian news media businesses paid for generating original content.”
The Australian government passed the final amendments to the law following backlash from both of the tech giants, which have pushed back in response to the law.
Facebook had temporarily blocked users from sharing news content and only lifted the block once the Australian government agreed to make some changes to the law. On the other hand, Google walked back plans to pull its search engine in Australia in response to the law and has instead made deals to compensate publishers for news.
Canada’s Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault has pledged to make Facebook pay for news content and said the government had several approaches that it could take in doing so.
It’s possible that the Canadian government may choose to follow the Australian model, which requires tech giants to form deals to pay news outlets for links that generate activity on their services.
The government could also follow the French government, which requires large tech platforms to open talks with publishers that seek remuneration for the use of news content.
Guilbeault has said he spoke to his Australian, French, German and Finnish counterparts about working together on the matter. He noted that a joint approach could help ensure fair compensation for news content.
Source: The Associated Press