Trending Now - Australia Proposes New Tax on Tech Giants to Support Journalism
WHO:
ABC News - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
ABC News - Communication Minister Anika Wells
ABC News - Meta Platforms, Google (owned by Alphabet Inc.), TikTok (majority-owned by U.S.-backed investors)
WHAT:
ABC News - The proposed tax is described as a “digital services tax” by the platforms, which they argue misunderstands the advertising industry and would not create a sustainable news sector.
ABC News - Meta stated that news organizations “voluntarily post content on our platforms because they receive value from doing so,” and criticized the legislation as a “government-mandated transfer of wealth.”
ABC News - Google rejected the need for the tax, claiming it ignores existing commercial agreements with the news industry and misinterprets changes in the advertising market.
ABC News - Albanese emphasized that investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy, stating, “It shouldn’t just be able to be taken by a large multinational corporation and used to generate profits for that organisation with no compensation appropriate for the people who produce that creative content.”
ABC News - Australia proposed a tax on Meta, Google, and TikTok to fund news reporters.
ABC News - The proposed tax is a 2.25% levy on the platforms' Australian revenue if they do not strike commercial deals with news publishers.
ABC News - The government expects the incentive to raise between 200 to 250 million Australian dollars ($144 million-$179 million) annually.
ABC News - The tax would distribute income among news organizations based on the number of journalists each employs.
Techmeme - The draft News Bargaining Incentive scheme was unveiled.
WHERE:
ABC News - Australia
WHEN:
ABC News - The government intends to introduce the draft legislation to Parliament by July 2.
WHY:
ABC News - Albanese expressed that the government will make decisions based on the Australian national interest, indicating a lack of concern for potential pushback from the United States.
ABC News - Albanese stated that a monetary value needed to be attached to journalists’ work to ensure they are compensated for their content.
ABC News - The proposal aims to create a financial incentive for social media companies to pay for journalism.
HOW:
ABC News - The proposed tax would apply to platforms that choose not to strike commercial deals with news publishers.
ABC News - The government would provide offsets to lower overall costs for platforms that agree to pay publishers for journalism.
(UPDATED April 28, 2026 17:30 UTC)
A proposed digital services tax has sparked controversy, with platforms like Meta arguing that it misunderstands the advertising industry and would fail to create a sustainable news sector. Meta criticized the legislation as a "government-mandated transfer of wealth," while Google rejected the tax, claiming it overlooks existing agreements with news organizations. Prime Minister Albanese emphasized the importance of investing in journalism for a healthy democracy, stating that creative content should not be exploited by large corporations without proper compensation for its creators.
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(UPDATED April 28, 2026 15:47 UTC)
Australia is proposing a new tax on Meta, Google, and TikTok to support news reporters, with a 2.25% levy on their Australian revenue if they fail to reach commercial agreements with news publishers. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese emphasized the need to assign a monetary value to journalists' work, aiming to raise between 200 to 250 million Australian dollars annually to distribute among news organizations based on their number of journalists. The government plans to introduce the draft legislation to Parliament by July 2, which includes provisions for offsets to reduce costs for platforms that choose to pay publishers for journalism.