Respectively calling it ‘one-sided’ and ‘unworkable’, while Twitter has raised its own concerns with the Bill as the companies prepare to face future implications of any agreement.
Facebook and Google have been engaged in a stoush with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) since August over the News Media Bargaining Code that entered the House of Representatives in late December. The bargaining code, according to the government, is necessary to address the fundamental bargaining power imbalances between Australian news media businesses and major digital platforms. But according to Google, the code is « unfair », saying also it puts the « way Aussies’ search at risk ». Google believes it contains an unfair arbitration process that « ignores the real-world value Google provides to news publishers and opens up to enormous and unreasonable demands » and similarly Facebook takes issue with the code, having threatened to pull news completely from its Australian platform. Both tech giants have responded to the code in a more official capacity than just a blog, with Google telling [PDF] the Senate Economics Committee that the code, even after amendments, remains unworkable « because it includes a skewed arbitration process which forces Google to pay for links and snippets in Search ». « The designation of Search creates an unprecedented and distortionary outcome in which Google would have to pay for links to news websites in Search results. An obligation to pay for links would break the way search engines and the internet work for everyone, » it wrote. See also: Web inventor concerned new Australian code breaches internet’s fundamental principle A workable code, Google said, would instead guarantee remuneration of news media businesses by designating News Showcase — which it has paused from launching in Australia — and similar offerings featuring licensed news content.
