Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US and other countries should adopt Australia's proposed media rules, which require tech firms to pay for news content
AxiosSara Fischer
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already said it would accept Australia’s proposed framework, even though it was aimed at requiring Google and Facebook to compensate news publishers; Brad Smith’s call extends that earlier endorsement of the Australian rules into an argument for policy adoption beyond Australia.
The position became part of a broader publishing-policy campaign: Microsoft later worked with Europe’s largest publisher lobby groups on payment mandates for gatekeepers, while Smith was also slated to appear before a House antitrust subcommittee.
First-order effects
Microsoft publicly positions itself as a supporter of rules that require major tech platforms to pay for news content, putting Brad Smith’s advocacy behind replication of the Australian approach in the US and elsewhere.
News publishers gain a prominent technology-company ally in their push for compensation from Google and Facebook.
Second-order effects
Google and Facebook face a more complicated policy fight when Microsoft, a large platform competitor, supports payment obligations rather than opposing them.
European publisher groups gain a stronger precedent for their gatekeeper-payment agenda, which Microsoft later backed through its work with four major lobbying groups.
Third-order effects
If governments replicate the Australian model, compensation for publisher content would move from bilateral platform negotiations toward a regulated obligation imposed on designated gatekeepers.
The pattern places news-media payment rules alongside antitrust scrutiny as a way for policymakers to address bargaining power between platforms and publishers.
The trend: News publishers are increasingly pursuing regulator-backed payment mandates for dominant digital gatekeepers, with Microsoft using its support to shape the policy debate.
If you want to understand what we need to do to preserve an information ecosystem to preserve our democracy, drop everything and read this piece by Brad Smith of Microsoft. https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ...
“Microsoft President Brad Smith told Axios in an interview that the U.S. and other countries should consider adopting media rules like those Australia is poised to soon enact to force tech companies to pay publishers for content.” https://www.axios.com/...
This is the tech vs government regulator equivalent of this joke: Two campers run into a bear. The first starts praying, the other runs. The first says “You can't outrun a bear.” To which the second says, “I don't have to. I only have to outrun you.” https://www.axios.com/...
Significant to see @Microsoft's @BradSmi endorse Australian proposal to share search revenue w/ the news organizations whose content helps generate it. A healthy #journalism business is healthy for democracy. https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ...
Google fires back at Microsoft throwing its support against new Australian rules that would make Google pay for showing news articles in search results https://blog.google/... https://twitter.com/...
Microsoft's take on Australia's proposed News Media Bargaining Code is unsurprising. We're paying Australian publishers through Google News Showcase and are proposing reasonable changes to make the law work. https://blog.google/...
the entire memo by @BradSmi is a scorcher. Or using his included baseball language, I would call it “high heat.” In short, good for Microsoft. Grateful they are standing up for democracy and a free and plural press globally. https://blogs.microsoft.com/ ... https://twitter.com/..…
Microsoft suggests new Australian laws around Google and Facebook should come to America. By the way, dear press, when Google brags about News Showcase and their funding of news, please ask them why they only do it in major nations with regulatory threats and not in the US? https…