Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said it’s “inevitable” that Google and other tech behemoths will have to eventually pay for using media content, responding to the internet giant’s threat to disable its search engine in the country if it’s forced to pay local publishers for new.
Google threatens to pull search due to Australian plan
Bloomberg
Google yesterday threatened to disable its search engine in Australia if it is forced to pay local publishers for news.
A proposed law, intended to compensate publishers for the value their stories generate for the company, is “unworkable,” Mel Silva, managing director for Google Australia and New Zealand, told an Australian parliamentary hearing.
She specifically opposed the requirement that Google pay media companies for displaying snippets of articles in search results.
The Google home page is displayed on a screen in Sydney yesterday.
Photo: Bloomberg
The threat is Google’s most potent yet as the digital giant tries to stem a flow of regulatory action worldwide, but such a radical step would hand an entire developed market to rivals.
Google threatens to pull search engine in Australia in stand-off with government Tech giant opposes proposed law requiring it to pay local publishers for news
Fri, Jan 22, 2021, 07:33 Updated: Fri, Jan 22, 2021, 07:35
Managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, Mel Silva, told a parliamentary hearing the proposed legislation is unworkable. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP
Google has threatened to disable its search engine in Australia if it is forced to pay local publishers for news in a dramatic escalation of a months-long stand-off with the government.
A proposed law, intended to compensate publishers for the value their stories generate for the company, is “unworkable”, Google’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Mel Silva, told a parliamentary hearing on Friday. She specifically opposed the requirement that Google pay media companies for displaying snippets of articles in search results.