Tech giant Google, on Friday, launched a platform in Australia offering news where it has paid seven domestic outlets to use their content. This was done to show legislation proposed by Canberra to enforce payments.
In a world’s first, Canberra moved to make it a legal requirement for Google and Facebook to pay Australian media companies for using their content included in search results or news feeds as well. If they failed to strike a deal with publishers, a government-appointed arbitrator would decide the price. Google is still lobbying the Australian government in private meetings and has said previously that this legislation was unworkable and would force it to pull out of the country if implemented.
The News Showcase platform which is only rolled out in Brazil and Germany previously, was originally slated for launch last June but Google delayed the plans after Canberra made the unprecedented move.