Google hardened the tone in Australia on Friday by threatening to block its search engine if Canberra doesn’t change the bill to force the California giant to pay the media for its content.
The Australian government is working on a “binding code of conduct” to regulate the relationships between the media and the giants that dominate the internet, including Google and Facebook, which are a big part of advertising revenue.
This project, one of the most restrictive in the world, provides for multimillion-dollar fines for infringement and targets the “current thread” of searches on Facebook and Google.
But Google Australia’s general manager Mel Silva stated this Friday before a Senate committee that the “ worst case scenario ” would be that the code’s design be approved as is, and if necessary, his group would be forced to use your search services. in Australia.
“If this version of the code becomes law, we will have no choice but to suspend Google Search in Australia,” said Silva.
A threat to which Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison responded.
“Australia is the one that sets the rules of what can be done in Australia. It is our parliament that decides,” he said. “People who want to work in Australia within this framework are welcome. But we don’t give in to threats.”
– “An untenable precedent” –
The Australian initiative is closely followed around the world at a time when the media is suffering in a digital economy where Facebook, Google and other major technology companies are increasingly bringing in ad revenue.
The media crisis has been exacerbated by the economic collapse caused by the coronavirus. In Australia, dozens of newspapers are closed and hundreds of journalists are unemployed.
The draft code calls on Google and Facebook to reimburse Australian media, whether it be the public ABC group or the newspapers of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp group, for using their content.
The government only targets Facebook and Google, but not other very popular platforms such as Instagram or YouTube.
One of the most controversial aspects is that Google and Facebook must enter into binding arbitration with each medium, in the absence of an amicable settlement. The arbitrator would decide between the position of the media and the tech giants on the amount of the fee.
“This provision of the code would set an unsustainable precedent for our industry and the digital economy,” Silva said Friday. “It’s not compatible with the way search engines or the Internet work.”
Silva insisted that Google wanted to back the media and suggested changing the draft code that should go into effect this year.
“There is a clear path to fair code we can work with, with just a few minor changes,” he said.
Google had recently mentioned that it could prevent content on Australian media websites from appearing in search engine responses. He started testing these types of measurements with some internet users.
– Facebook Threats –
But this Friday marked the first time the group agreed to block its search engine in Australia.
The United States also called on Australia to abandon its project, finding it “fundamentally unbalanced” in favor of the media.
Facebook also rejected the code as it stands, saying it would stop publishing Australian media content if it took effect.
“The vast majority of people using Facebook could continue to do so, but we couldn’t give any more news,” Simon Milner, a Facebook official, told the Australian Senate.
Australia initially proposed a “voluntary code of conduct” but reinforced its position on the grounds that a fair deal could not be reached between the media and the tech giants, due to the weight of the latter.
Australia isn’t the only market where Google is in conflict with the media.
On Thursday, the California group announced it had reached a framework agreement paving the way for reimbursement to the French press for related or neighboring rights.
Related rights are a copyright-like provision created two years ago by a European directive to improve the distribution of digital revenues for newspapers and news agencies.