Australia has stepped up its campaign to force Big Tech to fund journalism, with the government unveiling draft legislation that would require companies such as Meta, Google and TikTok to pay for the news they aggregate or reshare, or face a levy on their local revenues.
The proposed law, known as the News Bargaining Incentive, represents the country’s second attempt to compel digital platforms to strike commercial deals with Australian news publishers.
Communications minister Anika Wells said at a press conference that people are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, TikTok and Google, making the case for regulatory intervention. Under the draft legislation, the three platforms would face a 2.25 per cent levy on their Australian revenues unless they negotiate payment agreements with local media outlets. The more deals they strike, the less they pay. If sufficient commercial agreements are finalised, the effective rate would drop to 1.5 per cent, which could generate between A200millionandA250 million for Australian journalism.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that journalists are the lifeblood of Australia’s media sector, playing a vital role in keeping communities informed about the news that matters to them.
The government first introduced the News Media Bargaining Code, which took effect in 2021, requiring platforms like Google and Meta to pay news publishers.
However, the original framework contained a significant flaw: Big Tech companies could simply remove news from their platforms to avoid payment obligations. Meta did exactly that in 2024, a move that reportedly triggered widespread job cuts across Australian newsrooms.
The News Bargaining Incentive is the government’s attempt to close that loophole. This time, there is no workaround. Platforms will be taxed whether they carry news or not. The Albanese government first announced the proposed levy in December 2024 as a replacement for the existing 2021 code, and the draft legislation was finally tabled on 28 April 2026.
The inclusion of TikTok marks a notable expansion from the original code, reflecting the growing role of the video-sharing platform as a news source for Australian audiences. Meanwhile, the draft legislation explicitly excludes artificial intelligence services from its scope. Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino explained at the press conference that AI is not included because it is currently being examined through a range of other policy forums, including work on copyright being led by the attorney-general.
The Trump administration has consistently opposed digital services taxes on US technology companies, repeatedly threatening tariffs against countries that pursue them. Most recently, President Trump warned the United Kingdom that it could face steep tariffs unless London drops its digital services tax on US tech giants such as Google, Meta and Apple that derive value from British users. When a journalist asked about potential pushback from the White House, Albanese said that Australia is a sovereign nation and that his government will make decisions based upon the Australian national interest, as it does across all policy areas.
If the legislation is passed, platforms will have until July 2026 to comply, the same date the levy is scheduled to take effect. Australia is not alone in confronting Big Tech over news funding. Canada, Brazil and the European Union have all taken similar steps, with mixed results. Canada’s 2023 law prompted Meta to pull news from its platform entirely.
Brazil’s bill has remained in legislative limbo since 2019. The EU has rules in place, but enforcement varies widely among member states. South Africa may offer the clearest alternative blueprint, with regulators there brokering direct deals with Google, Meta, TikTok and Microsoft, securing approximately $40 million for local news outlets over five years.
Meta’s vice president of communications, Andy Stone, said on X that the proposal is nothing more than a digital services tax, adding that news organisations post content on Meta’s platforms by choice. He argued that Meta does not take their news content, yet the tax applies whether or not news content appears on its platforms. Google and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The draft legislation will now proceed to parliamentary debate, where it is expected to face opposition from both tech industry lobbyists and some free-market advocates who argue that the levy amounts to a government-imposed subsidy for legacy media. However, with bipartisan support for the original code and growing concern over the decline of local journalism, the measure is widely expected to pass. According to industry estimates, Australian newsrooms have shed more than 3,000 journalism jobs since 2019, a trend the government hopes the new levy will help reverse.