Australia Moves to Tax Digital Giants

Courtesy: AP/RickRycroft

Australia continues to be a global leader in digital sovereignty!  Recently, their government proposed a 2.25% tax on Meta, Google & TikTok, to fund local news.  That tax would be reduced if platforms agree to pay publishers directly for their intellectual property.

“We think that investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.  The new digital tax would raise between 200-250 million Australian dollars annually for local news.  The funds would be distributed to news organizations based on the number of employees.

This is the second time the Aussie government has attempted to tax foreign digital giants for using content produced nationally.  In 2021, platforms were forced to make deals with local news producers to avoid taxation, as part of the country's News Media Bargaining Code.  However, since then digital giants have refused to renew those deals, saying they'll instead try to remove news from their sites.

PM Albanese doesn't appear worried about pushback to this legislation from the tech companies or the American government; “We’re a sovereign nation & my government will make decisions based upon the Australian national interest.”

The Canadian Google deal still has four years remaining, yet Meta continues to refuse to contribute to Canada’s news ecosystem. As pressures mount from south of the border, the federal government must hold the line in ensuring big tech companies pay their fair share, while also looking to jurisdictions like Australia for innovative approaches to strengthening Canada’s sovereignty and democracy through support for Canadian cultural industries, including local news.