Australian Regulator May Authorise Media Group Talks With Google, Facebook

Australia’s competitors watchdog stated on Thursday it issued draft proposals to authorise regional newspaper business group, Country Press Australia, to barter with Google and Facebook for funds for information content material on their platforms.

Country Press Australia (CPA) is in search of authorisation to permit its members to hammer out a funds cope with Google and Facebook to be used of reports content material on the tech platforms, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) stated.

CPA represents 81 information publishers that publish about 160 regional newspapers throughout the nation.

“Allowing the publishers of 160 newspapers to collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook should help address some of the considerable bargaining power imbalance that exists between the digital giants and these local news outlets,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims stated in an announcement.

The proposed authorisation, which might expire after 10 years, follows an interim authorisation granted by the ACCC to CPA in April to start the negotiations.

Earlier this 12 months, Australia handed a legislation that mandated the US tech giants to pay media corporations for information content material on their platforms.

© Thomson Reuters 2021