A link to Google’s proposal for a workable news code on the company’s homepage.
David Gray | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Australia’s political opposition will back the proposed legislation that would force Alphabet’s Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for content, two sources briefed on the matter on Tuesday.
The bill, whose outlook is being watched around the world, is contingent on opposition support, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s ruling Liberal party does not have a majority in the country’s upper house.
Lawmakers from Australia’s center-left Labor party endorsed the bill at a rally in Canberra on Tuesday, the sources said, who were not authorized to speak to the media on the matter and refused to be identified.
The bill is expected to be presented in parliament this week.
Google and Facebook have pressured Australia to soften the legislation, with senior executives from both companies holding talks with Morrison and treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Google has called for a series of changes, mainly because its new platform, Showcase, is covered by the law rather than generating search results.
Last month, Reuters said it had struck a deal with Google to be the first global news provider for Google News Showcase. Reuters is owned by news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp.
Google and a French publisher lobby group agreed in January on a copyright framework for the tech company to pay news outlets for online content, a first in Europe.