Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has since spoken with Prime Minister Scott Morrison about the new rules
Sydney:
Software giant Microsoft Corp is confident that its search product Bing can fill the gap in Australia if Google pulls its search over the required payments to media outlets, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday.
Australia has enacted laws that would force internet giant Google and social media heavyweight Facebook Inc to negotiate payments to domestic media outlets whose content links drive traffic to their platforms.
However, the Big Tech firms called the laws unworkable, saying last month they would withdraw key services from Australia if the regulations went through. Those services include Google’s search engine, which, according to industry data, controls 94% of the country’s search market.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has since spoken with Morrison about the new rules, the tech company told Reuters, and on Monday, Morrison said the software company was ready to increase the presence of its search engine Bing, the number 2 distant player.
“I can tell you that Microsoft is quite confident when I spoke to Satya,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra, without giving further details of the conversation.
“We just want the rules in the digital world to be the same as in the real world, in the physical world,” added Morrison.
A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the discussion was taking place, but declined to comment, as the company was not directly involved in the laws.
“We recognize the importance of a vibrant media sector and public interest journalism in a democracy and we recognize the challenges that the media industry has faced over many years through changing business models and consumer preferences,” said the spokeswoman.
A Google representative was not immediately available for comment.
A day earlier, Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had asked for a meeting about the law and they had spoken, but he would not back down on the change.
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