Google, Facebook to fight media bargaining code in Senate

Executives from Google and Facebook are set to front a Senate committee hearing, as debate reaches fever pitch.

Google and Facebook have escalated their attacks and are expected to voice their opposition at a public Senate committee hearing on Friday. Picture: AFP

Executives from Google and Facebook are set to front a Senate committee hearing on Friday, as debate around the contentious mandatory media bargaining code reaches fever pitch.

Google this week said it was burying links from traditional media outlets in some search ­results, in an escalation of the ­dispute between mainstream pub­lishers and the tech giant. The company has described the ­actions as an “experiment”, and just one of tens of thousands it conducted every year.

World-first media bargaining legislation was introduced to parliament late last year, which would force the tech giants into mediation with publishers over the value of their news, and hit them with fines of up to $10m if they ­fail to comply.

The code has widespread support across the political spectrum and Google’s “experiment’’ has attracted strong political criticism. The Greens slammed Google’s hiding Australian news content in its search engine for some users as a “scaremongering tactic” while Opposition communications spokesman Tim Watts said his party would support a “workable code”.

Google and Facebook have escalated their attacks and are expected to voice their opposition at a public committee hearing on Friday. The inquiry is due to report on February 12.

Google has threatened to exit Australia if the laws pass, while Facebook has warned it would ban the sharing of news on its platform in Australia.

Free TV Australia, which represents TV broadcasters including Seven West, Nine, Ten and Prime, described Google’s claims that the bargaining code would “break” its search engine as empty scare tactics.

“The Google claims must be seen for what they are: an attempt to confuse the debate and scare Australians into thinking that Google search, which has a 95 per cent share of the market for online search services in Australia, is somehow under threat,” Free TV said in a draft submission seen by The Weekend Australian.

“The code will not prevent the effective ongoing operation and management by Google of its search services or changes to Google’s search algorithm. Given the unique nature of the market failure that the code seeks to ­address, this regulatory intervention will also not create a ­precedent for broader economy-wide application.”

Free TV Australia boss Bridget Fair said that without immediate action to ensure the sustainability of media businesses, the decline in advertising revenue to fund Australian content will continue.

Centre for Responsible Technology director Peter Lewis said Google’s tactics of experimenting with burying news in Australia were a sign that the tech giant could pull its new services as it did in Spain.

“The fact that Google can choose to exclude news from its feed reinforces the power imbalance that now exists, and the over-reliance on these platforms to disseminate important public information which the code seeks to address,” Mr Lewis said.

In its submission, the Centre for Responsible Technology called on government to reverse its exclusion of Instagram and YouTube from the code. It said 21 per cent of Australians use YouTube for news, and 9 per cent of Australians get news from Instagram. The most recent data from web traffic tracker Alexa found Youtube.com was Australia’s second “top site”.