Australia Revamps Media Law to Make Big Tech Pay More News Outlets
Australia is moving ahead with a revised media bargaining law that would require major digital platforms to strike payment deals with a broader range of local news organisations, extending the country’s long-running effort to make technology companies contribute financially to journalism.
Under the revised proposal, covered platforms would need agreements with at least eight media companies, up from six in an earlier draft. The scheme is built around a levy equal to 2.5% of a company’s Australian advertising revenue, with qualifying payments to publishers offset against that liability.
The government has also restored a rule limiting any single publisher deal to 25% of a platform’s total liability, a move intended to prevent the largest media groups from absorbing most of the available funding.
Another change would reserve 5% of funds raised for Australian Associated Press, the non-profit national newswire that supplies reporting, photographs and video to newsrooms across Australia.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said the changes were designed to better support smaller and more diverse publishers as audiences increasingly discover news across different digital platforms. The legislation is expected to be introduced to Australia’s parliament on August 13, 2026.
The proposal expands beyond the companies at the centre of Australia’s original 2021 bargaining framework. Reuters reports that the new system can also capture platforms including TikTok and Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, alongside companies such as Google and Meta.
Australia’s first News Media Bargaining Code pushed Google and Meta into commercial agreements with publishers. The government began redesigning the system after Meta said it would stop paying publishers for news content in Australia and other markets.
