Google has threatened to remove its search engine from the country, and Facebook has threatened to remove its news feed for all Australian users should the government go ahead with its plan.
The Australian government is planning to introduce a new law that requires Big Tech companies to negotiate payments to Australian media companies if they link to them. In response, Google has threatened to remove its search engine from the country, and Facebook has threatened to remove its news feed for all Australian users should the government go ahead with its plan.
Google's boycott of Australia would leave 19,000,000 Australians who use the website every month without a search engine. 17,000,000 Australians who use Facebook would be prohibited from seeing or posting any news articles on the platform.
According to The Guardian, the Australian government is trying to force Tech Giants to enter into negotiations with news media companies, which are demanding payment for sharing their content. An arbiter will ultimately decide the payment amount if neither the tech companies or the news publishers arrive at an agreement.
In response to the threat, Google gave an ultimatum to the Australian government on Friday saying that it would not be viable for the platform to continue offering its services in the country if it goes ahead with the code.
Speaking before an Australian Senate Committee, Google's Australian Managing Director Mel Silva condemned the code as untenable. Silva stated that the directive would set a "dangerous precedent," for paying for links.
"The principle of unrestricted linking between websites is fundamental to search and coupled with the unmanageable financial and operational risk if this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia," she said.
"Withdrawing our services from Australia is the last thing that Google wants to have happen, especially when there is another way forward," Silva added.
Google said that the company was willing to work with the Australian government to make the code workable and that it was keen to enter into agreements with media publishers to pay for content. Google has made 450 deals with media companies worldwide.
In response to Google's threats, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the government will not back down from its position.
"Let me be clear. Australia makes our rules for things you can do in Australia. That’s done in our parliament. It's done by our government. And that’s how things work here in Australia and people who want to work with that, in Australia, you're very welcome," he said. "But we don’t respond to threats."
Australia is one of the few governments that has mounted a defense against Big Tech, which has leveraged its power to control speech on the internet. Earlier this month, Google, Twitter, and Facebook censored former US President Donald Trump, preventing him from broadcasting his opinions. The companies claimed that suppressing his right to free speech was necessary for safety reasons following the US Capitol riot on Jan. 6.
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