Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Google threatened to shut down its search engine in Australia if forced to pay local publishers for news, a dramatic escalation from a months-long stalemate with the government.
The proposed law, designed to compensate publishers for the value their stories generate to the company, is “unworkable,” Mel Silva, director for Australia and New Zealand, told a parliamentary hearing Friday. She specifically opposed the requirement that Google should pay media companies to display snippets of articles in search results.
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The threat is Google’s most powerful yet as the digital giant tries to stop a flood of regulatory action worldwide. At least 94% of online searches in Australia go through the Alphabet Inc., according to the local competition regulator.
“We do not respond to threats,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday. “Australia makes our rules for things you can do in Australia. That has been done in our parliament. It’s been done by our government. And that’s how it works here in Australia. “
Facebook Inc., the only other company to which the law applies, also opposes the law. The social media platform reiterated during Friday’s hearing that it is considering preventing Australians from sharing news on Facebook if the law is passed.
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The legislation aims to support a local media industry, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which is struggling to adapt to the digital economy. Google’s tougher stance led to a rebuke from lawmakers at the hearing. Senator Andrew Bragg accused the technology giant of “blackmailing” Australians policymakers.
“If this version of the code were to become law, we would have no choice but to no longer make Google Search available in Australia,” Silva told a panel of senators. She described the law as an ‘unsustainable financial and operational precedent’.
Mountain View, California-based Google, hit one Thursday deal with French media publishers after the country’s competition authority pushed to pay for content. It had stopped showing news results from European publishers in search results for French users last year in order to comply with copyright laws.
– With help from Jason Scott