Tech giants face new levy to pay for Australian news as Meta calls position ‘simply wrong’

2026-04-28 · Source: AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian · Field: Government & Public Sector — Public Policy & Governance, Regulatory & Compliance · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, medium

Summary

Australia has introduced a draft News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) scheme, proposing a 2.25% levy on the local revenues of Google, Meta, and TikTok unless they strike new deals with Australian news publishers. This initiative aims to generate up to $250 million annually for Australian journalism, replacing the previous News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC) which Labor deemed ineffective after Meta ceased renewing deals worth approximately $70 million. The NBI model offers offsets of up to 170% against the levy for platforms that make agreements, with greater incentives for deals with smaller publishers. Google and Meta have strongly criticized the proposal, with Google rejecting the need for the tax and Meta calling the government's position "simply wrong," arguing it's a wealth transfer unrelated to value exchanged and a "digital services tax." The scheme applies to platforms with over $250 million in Australian revenue and significant user bases (5M social media, 10M search), but notably excludes AI platforms like OpenAI.

Key takeaway

For executives managing global digital platforms with significant Australian operations, you should immediately assess the financial implications of Australia's proposed 2.25% NBI levy on local revenues. Your teams should prioritize engaging with Australian news publishers to negotiate new content agreements, as this is the primary mechanism to avoid or significantly offset the new tax, potentially carrying forward excess offsets to future years. Failure to act will result in direct government collection and distribution of funds.

Key insights

Australia's NBI scheme levies tech giants to fund journalism, prompting strong opposition from Google and Meta.

Principles

• Platforms should compensate for journalistic content.
• Incentivize direct commercial agreements over government collection.

Method

The NBI scheme imposes a 2.25% levy on local revenues of large digital platforms, which can be avoided or offset by entering into commercial agreements with Australian news publishers, with funds distributed to media outlets if deals are not made.

In practice

• Negotiate commercial deals with Australian publishers.
• Assess local revenue thresholds for NBI applicability.

Topics

• News Bargaining Incentive
• Digital Platform Levy
• Australian News Media
• Google
• Meta

Best for: Policy Maker, Executive, Tech Journalist

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by AI (artificial intelligence) | The Guardian.