News Bargaining Incentive: Australia’s New Push to Make Big Tech Pay for News

The Australian government has released exposure draft legislation for the News Bargaining Incentive (NBI), requiring large digital platforms to either pay for news content or face a levy on local revenue.

The draft was published on March 18, 2025, with a consultation period open until May 18, 2025. The government plans to introduce the legislation to Parliament by July 2, 2025. The proposed law has drawn sharp criticism from affected technology companies and the White House.

Proposed Levy Structure

Under the draft legislation, designated digital platforms with annual Australian revenue exceeding $250 million will face a charge of 2.25% of their gross Australian revenue if they do not enter commercial agreements with news publishers.

The charge can be reduced to between 1.5% and 1.7% for platforms that sign qualifying commercial deals.

Revenue collected from the levy will be distributed to news media organizations based on the number of full-time journalists they employ, with additional weighting for rural, regional, multicultural, and marginalized outlets. The government has stated it will not retain any of the revenue collected. The levy is backdated to January 1, 2025.

Scope and Applicability

The NBI applies to a two-limb test of digital platforms:

• Social media platforms with more than 5 million Australian users and annual Australian revenue over $250 million.
• Search engines with more than 10 million Australian users.

The draft targets Meta (parent of Facebook and Instagram), Google, and ByteDance (owner of TikTok). Apple and LinkedIn are expected to be excluded because they employ editorial teams internally. Google has questioned the exclusion of Microsoft, Snapchat, and OpenAI.

To qualify to receive payments, news organizations must be registered with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and meet criteria including annual revenue over $150,000, professional editorial standards, editorial independence, and connection to a relevant news product.

Covered entities include newspapers, magazines, TV news programs, radio programs, and news websites. A cap limits any single commercial deal to 25% of the total levy charge.

Background

The NBI is intended to replace or supplement the News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC) , enacted in 2021 under the Morrison government. Under the NMBC, Google and Meta entered commercial agreements totaling approximately $250 million over three years and $1 billion in total payments.

However, in March 2024, Meta announced it would not renew its Australian news agreements, arguing that news content holds little value. The NMBC allowed platforms to avoid obligations by removing news content from their services. The current Labor government first proposed the NBI model in late 2024, stating the NMBC is no longer effective after Meta's withdrawal.

Reactions from Technology Companies

Meta stated that news organizations voluntarily post content on its platforms and receive value from doing so. A company spokesperson described the NBI as a "poorly designed," "grossly unfair," and "discriminatory" plan that "applies only to a handful of foreign companies."

Meta characterized the levy as a "government-mandated transfer of wealth" and a "digital services tax" that would not lead to a sustainable news sector.

Meta has stated it will remove news links from its Australian platforms if the law passes, similar to its actions in Canada.

Google rejected the need for the tax, arguing it already has commercial agreements with over 90 news businesses and 226 outlets in Australia. Google stated the NBI misunderstands changes in the advertising market and unfairly exempts competitors including Microsoft, Snapchat, and OpenAI.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Government and Political Reactions

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the plan, stating that journalists' work has monetary value and should not be taken without compensation. He stated: "We think that investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy" and that Australia makes decisions based on its national interest.

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino stated that large digital platforms provide important access to news and that the government would like them to work with news media on commercial deals benefiting both parties.

Australian Communications Minister Anika Wells described the plan as "only fair," stating that platforms should either do deals with news organizations or pay more.

The Coalition and The Greens in parliament are expected to support the proposal.

Shadow Communications Minister Sarah Henderson criticized Labor for allowing the previous model to collapse but did not state a position on the new proposal. The Greens indicated they will study the proposal and support a "big tech tax."

Nationals leader Matt Canavan stated: "I absolutely do think that these large overseas big tech companies should be contributing to the news services."

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young questioned how the funds would be distributed, asking: "Who is going to make sure it goes to good quality, public interest journalism?"

US Government and Industry Group Reactions

A White House spokesperson criticized the plan, calling it "extortion" and stating that the US government would examine the details. The spokesperson said: "President Trump is committed to defending America’s leading technology sector from digital services taxes and other forms of foreign extortion."

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) described the proposal as "discriminatory in both design and effect" for singling out predominantly US firms, and urged the US government to consider retaliatory trade measures.

Media Industry Reactions

Heads of major media organizations including the ABC, Nine Entertainment, News Corp, Network Ten, SBS, Southern Cross Media, Australian Community Media, and The Guardian Australia issued a joint statement backing the legislation.

They stated that the future of local journalism is at stake and described the incentive as a "critical step" toward securing the future of Australian news.

Former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chair Rod Sims expressed urgency, noting disappointment the matter was not resolved earlier. Allan Fells, former competition tsar and chair of the Public Interest Journalism Initiative, welcomed progress but stated that participation must be non-optional.