In an Australian Senate hearing, a Google executive said that a law forcing Google to pay news outlets for links could prompt it to stop offering Search
which one senator called blackmail — revealed apparent willingness of Facebook and Google to hide or erase reliable sources of info for millions at a time when social media platforms are under 🔥 for helping misinfo spread worldwide.” https://www.nytimes.com/... Kate Crawford / @katecrawford : GOOGLE: if you pass a law that makes us pay media companies for journalism, we'll shut down search in Australia. PRIME MINISTER: “But we don't respond to threats” GOOGLE: “It's not a threat. It's a reality.” Last two are *checks notes* actual quotes. https://www.smh.com.au/... Benedict Evans / @benedictevans : Australia to Google and Facebook: “break how the entire Internet works or get out!” Google and Facebook: well then we'd have to get out. Australia: “stop threatening us!” https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Sreemoy Talukdar / @sreemoytalukdar : In the entire world, only one nation remains immune to this blatant blackmailing from Big Tech. What's more, when the rest of world is struggling to rein in Big Tech bosses, that nation is cutting them down to size. This is not to endorse, just observe. https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Frontier Indica / @frontierindica : Even Australia, a country with the population of Haryana, has the courage to stand up to Big Tech. https://twitter.com/... Peter Cronau / @petercronau : Google is not your friend. This is why Google needed to be broken up, regulated, taxed, audited, monitored. Anyway time to get a new search engine. The best IMO is DuckDuckGo. But also Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Yandex, https://ask.com/, Ecosia, https://aol.com/, etc https://twitter.com/... Alec Stapp / @alecstapp : It's almost as if displaying snippets of news articles in search results is more valuable for publishers (free traffic) than it is for Google (news keywords monetize poorly). https://twitter.com/... Prof. Peter Doherty / @profpcdoherty : That would be a massive problem, and be a massive negative on many, including economic, fronts. We would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Google threatens to shut down search in Australia if digital news code goes ahead https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Josh Bornstein / @joshbbornstein : They will use the same threats to avoid paying tax in Australia https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Paul Wallbank / @paulwallbank : Gee, didn't we laugh when Telstra launched its Sensis search engine and Sol Trujillo said ‘Google Schmoogle’ back in 2005. If only we'd listened. :D https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Naaman Zhou / @naamanzhou : Funny that the biggest and most credible threat of China-style censorship in Australia is coming from a US private company https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Rita Panahi / @ritapanahi : Tech giant with a virtual monopoly having an almighty tantrum cause it doesn't want to pay for content. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Allum Bokhari / @libertarianblue : This would be a huge win for Australia https://twitter.com/... Christine Emba / @christineemba : Australia should call their bluff. https://twitter.com/... Vijay Shekhar Sharma / @vijayshekhar : One day, Google will treat Indian publishers equal to these French publisher and pay for content it uses to generate traffic. One day, just because we are Indian, we will not be treated unfairly by big tech companies. https://techcrunch.com/... Barry Schwartz / @rustybrick : Here we go again. https://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
The GuardianJosh Taylor
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already rejected Australia’s proposed payment framework, arguing that search results function like newsagent-window displays rather than paid content. By December, the bill had been revised to recognize the economic value of platform referrals to publishers, sharpening the dispute over who captures that value.
The hearing turns a policy argument into a distribution-risk confrontation: publishers’ access to Google referral traffic is now tied to the outcome of the bargaining-code debate.
First-order effects
Australian senators and publishers must weigh the proposed payment regime against Google’s stated willingness to withdraw Search, making continued access to a major discovery channel part of the immediate legislative calculus.
Google’s public position raises the stakes for Facebook as the other platform named in the bill, which was designed to require both companies to negotiate with local publishers.
Second-order effects
The threat strengthens platforms’ negotiating leverage over publishers by showing that payment demands can be met with reduced news distribution rather than higher licensing outlays.
Facebook’s subsequent removal of Australian news demonstrates that restricting access can be an operational response to the same bargaining pressure, not merely a hearing-room argument.
Third-order effects
Australia’s later passage of the news bargaining code points to a durable conflict between national rules seeking compensation for publishers and platforms’ control over news discovery and referral flows.
If that model spreads, publisher revenue negotiations will increasingly hinge on platforms’ ability to alter distribution, concentrating bargaining power around the gatekeepers rather than individual news outlets.
The trend: News-payment policy is becoming a test of whether governments can shift value toward publishers without triggering platform-controlled reductions in distribution.
Everyone in media should be watching the showdown in Australia. Google threatens to cut off search functions in Australian if country requires company to pay news organizations for content. https://www.smh.com.au/...
Google has threatened to block its search engine in Australia if the government proceeds with a new code forcing it and Facebook to pay news companies for the right to use their content https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
A Country With No Google or Facebook? Australia🇦🇺is threatening to make big tech platforms pay for news they share (and profit from handsomely). They are fighting back, and fighting dirty, by @damiencave https://www.nytimes.com/... via @nytimes #journalism
Under Australia's proposed code, if media companies and platforms like Google cannot agree on a price for news content, an independent arbitration body will resolve the dispute. That could be a first in the world. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Some folk characterising this ongoing saga as Google and Facebook bullying Australia. Looks to me more like the Australian government trying to pressure the tech companies on behalf of Australian website owners, and failing https://www.wsj.com/...
“When a private corporation tries to use its monopoly power to threaten and bully a sovereign nation, it's a surefire sign that regulation is long overdue.” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
I mean on the one hand yes, a country losing Google search would be bad, on the other hand wouldn't it also inspire the kind of competition everyone freaking out about this should want? https://www.nytimes.com/...
A company that can credibly threaten to cut off public access to basic information if they are not allowed to continue extracting profits from the dying journalism industry like vampires is a company that needs to be severely regulated or broken up. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Google said it would block its search engine in Australia if the government proceeds with a new code, that would force it and Facebook to pay media companies for the right to use their content https://www.reuters.com/... https://twitter.com/...
I'm so confused. Google, in France, will pay for news content: https://techcrunch.com/... But in Australia, no. https://www.reuters.com/... @geochingu?!
Sorry @Google, but we will decide which search engines come to this country and the circumstances in which they come. #auspol https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Could be an amazing opportunity for Australian tech entrepreneurs. Google threatens to disable search in Australia if media code becomes law https://www.smh.com.au/...
To me, the choice between News Corp and Google is like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. But tech giants threatening democratically-elected governments to shut down digital infrastructure to fight legislation is crossing the red line. https://twitter.com/...
While most people here were distracted by Twitter vs Trump, this is a far more important case from a global perspective. Australian media is fighting Google and Google isn't rolling over. https://www.smh.com.au/...
“the dire warnings — which one senator called blackmail — revealed apparent willingness of Facebook and Google to hide or erase reliable sources of info for millions at a time when social media platforms are under 🔥 for helping misinfo spread worldwide.” https://www.nytimes.com/.…
GOOGLE: if you pass a law that makes us pay media companies for journalism, we'll shut down search in Australia. PRIME MINISTER: “But we don't respond to threats” GOOGLE: “It's not a threat. It's a reality.” Last two are *checks notes* actual quotes. https://www.smh.com.au/...
Australia to Google and Facebook: “break how the entire Internet works or get out!” Google and Facebook: well then we'd have to get out. Australia: “stop threatening us!” https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
In the entire world, only one nation remains immune to this blatant blackmailing from Big Tech. What's more, when the rest of world is struggling to rein in Big Tech bosses, that nation is cutting them down to size. This is not to endorse, just observe. https://www.theguardian.co…
Google is not your friend. This is why Google needed to be broken up, regulated, taxed, audited, monitored. Anyway time to get a new search engine. The best IMO is DuckDuckGo. But also Bing, Yahoo, Baidu, Yandex, https://ask.com/, Ecosia, https://aol.com/, etc https://twitter.com…
It's almost as if displaying snippets of news articles in search results is more valuable for publishers (free traffic) than it is for Google (news keywords monetize poorly). https://twitter.com/...
That would be a massive problem, and be a massive negative on many, including economic, fronts. We would be shooting ourselves in the foot. Google threatens to shut down search in Australia if digital news code goes ahead https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Gee, didn't we laugh when Telstra launched its Sensis search engine and Sol Trujillo said ‘Google Schmoogle’ back in 2005. If only we'd listened. :D https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
Funny that the biggest and most credible threat of China-style censorship in Australia is coming from a US private company https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
One day, Google will treat Indian publishers equal to these French publisher and pay for content it uses to generate traffic. One day, just because we are Indian, we will not be treated unfairly by big tech companies. https://techcrunch.com/...