Google Warns Australia’s Media Bargaining Laws Could Harm Democracy

Google has lashed Australia’s media bargaining laws and its framework of paying publishers for the ability to link to their news stories.

As reported on by The Sydney Morning Herald, in a submission to the US Copyright Office, which is reviewing the country’s media laws, Google suggested it was still strongly opposed to paying publishers for the ability to link to their news stories.

The submission said, “While no digital platform has been designated under the code at this stage, we believe that it should not be replicated.”

Google saw that replication of Australia’s framework would force information to be consumed in a particular manner, “favouring a narrow range of sources for the diffusion of knowledge.”

In effect, this would carry the huge implication of undermining democratic discourse and media diversity.

Though conversely, the ACCC vehemently opposed Google’s position.

Concerned that public interest journalist was under threat due to the rise of online platforms for information and sharing, the ACCC conducted a ‘Digital Platforms Inquiry’.

The proposed legislation compelled tech giants like Google and Meta to pay arbitrarily determined amounts to news media businesses, give businesses access to user data and provide advance notice about algorithm changes.

Subsequently, the recommendations from this inquiry have since been developed into legislation that was passed by both houses in February 2021.

The Australian Institute’s Centre For Responsible Technology is one organisation that has welcomed this new legislation.

They’ve praised how the News Bargaining Code will force platforms to compensate for premium journalist content that powers their social network.

Peter Lewis, director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology, said, “The News Media Bargaining Code is an attempt to rebalance the equation – with platforms recognising the value of facts via a bargaining deal that would fund journalism into the future.”

“This legislation demands cross-party support: a clear statement from all our elected representatives that will stand up for democracy,” he continued.

However, Bronwyn Kelly, founder, the Australian Community Futures Planning, contended that “there is no unequivocal evidence that the imbalance if it exists, is the thing causing harm to democracy.”

She instead believes that the risk of imbalance and harm will be nothing in comparison to what is capable of growing up under the Code.

Kelly added, the code has the potential to drag us back to the dark ages of controlled information flow and suppression of facts that don’t fit with the preferred view of a few corporate powers.

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