Australia’s parliament passed the News Bargaining Incentive on Thursday, establishing a 2.5% levy on advertising revenues for tech giants that fail to secure commercial agreements with local news outlets.
The law applies to companies with significant social media or search services operating in Australia, including Meta, Alphabet’s Google, TikTok, and Microsoft’s LinkedIn. Affected firms must meet a local advertising revenue threshold of A$250 million ($178 million) to be liable for the charge.
Platforms can avoid the levy by finalizing deals with at least eight Australian publishers before the end of their financial reporting period. The value of these agreements is offset against their liability, with spending on large publishers qualifying for a 150% offset and spending on small or medium-sized outlets eligible for a 200% offset. Each individual deal is capped at 25% of a platform’s total levy liability.
The legislation follows the passage of separate laws restricting gambling advertisements and underscores Australia’s push to ensure digital platforms compensate news organizations for content shared on their services. Government officials stated that the measure sends a clear signal to platforms to prioritize commercial negotiations with publishers to avoid the tax.
