Australia has introduced a mandatory code of conduct to govern relations between Social media and Search software companies like Google and Facebook and traditional media outlets which will have those software companies pay media outlets to publish their content.
Josh Frydenberg, the national treasurer announced the policy on Friday after 18 months of back and forth between the two sides. With this new arrangement, tech giants will have to negotiate with media companies in Australia to use their content.
Other regulations to be revised include access to user data, transparency of algorithms and ranking of content in news feeds and in search results. Read his statement below
“It’s about a fair go for Australian news media businesses,” Frydenberg told a media conference. “It’s about ensuring that we have increased competition, increased consumer protection, and a sustainable media landscape.”
The draft version of the code drawn up by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is open for review until the 28th of August and will include substantial penalties that could cost such companies hundreds of millions of dollars according to Frydenberg. the code is expected to be introduced to parliarment and implemented before the end of the year.
The code has been introduced to drive competition as many media outlets have suffered loss from the advertising revenue which the tech giants have hitherto failed to share with the media outlets. Facebook has however refused calls to split the revenue with news companies but will instead remove news content from its platform as it accounted for a very small fraction of the user content in a single users feed.
