Australia has passed a law requiring major tech platforms such as Google and Meta to strike deals with Australian news publishers or pay a levy on their advertising revenue.
Australia has already banned social media for children under 16. This week, the Australian government passed laws that may spark a new battle with U.S. tech giants. Google and Meta are among the companies that will be forced to pay in order to distribute content from Australian news outlets, as Kristina Kukolja reports.
KRISTINA KUKOLJA, BYLINE: In Parliament, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed the changes as a model for the democratic world.
PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE: They encourage these tech giants to do deals with media companies. But if they don't, they will make a payment that will directly assist in the employment of journalists.
KUKOLJA: The message to Google, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok's owner, ByteDance, is make commercial deals with Australian media outlets to fund newsrooms or face a 2.5% levy on digital advertising revenues in Australia. NPR has requested comment, but there's been no word yet from the companies in question. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, previously criticized the measure as indefensible and grossly unfair, arguing that it violates the U.S. Free Trade Agreement with Australia. The White House reacted with accusations of foreign extortion. Fei Gao is a taxation and governance expert at the University of Sydney and says the digital platforms will have to consider their options.
FEI GAO: Either they need to negotiate with Australian media companies, like required by the Australian government, or to lobby Washington to put pressure on Australia government, which also is costly.
KUKOLJA: Gao says Australia is already on the Trump administration's radar, as the U.S. trade representative reviews aspects of Australian digital regulation for alleged unfair trade practices. Last year, President Trump vowed to stand up to countries that, quote, "attack incredible American tech companies." More recently, he threatened 100% tariffs on European nations that would impose a digital services tax on American tech giants. Gao believes if Trump used Australia's latest efforts as such attacks, he could respond.
GAO: For Trump administration particularly, additional tariffs on Australian exports – that's quite possible, and that's feasible.
KUKOLJA: Free TV, the group which represents commercial television networks in Australia, has called the news funding scheme a critical step towards ensuring global tech platforms contribute fairly to the Australian journalism they rely on.
For NPR News, I'm Kristina Kukolja in Melbourne.
(SOUNDBITE OF POST MALONE SONG, "CHEMICAL")
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.