“Meta is aggressive and ready to fight the laws that trouble him in Australia,” Terry Flew

Influence: TheAustraliaNevertheless, it is considered a very liberal country, which is what it needed in the first place GAFA Remuneration should be paid to the media that broadcasts the content. How was this conflict between Canberra And web giants?

Terry Flew: When the spark was ignited Facebook Australian media has pulled content from all its platforms in protest at a government plan to require digital platforms to pay financial compensation to news organizations that broadcast them. In 2021, the government was controlled by the Liberals Scott Morrison. His party had a majority in Parliament's House of Representatives, but it had to ally with independents and smaller groups to get texts voted through in the Senate. One of these independents forced the government to include in its plan a clause forcing websites to compensate Australian media.

IN: People's pressure against GAFA Was she strong at the time?

TF: We can't really say that. This deal is above all political. News media publishers have always been known to be very powerful Australia. This is especially the case Rupert Murdoch. They were the ones who set out to establish a binding text against platforms.

IN: No comprehensive legislation yet…

TF: In fact. The government chose a different path. he asked GAFA and the media must reach amicable agreements. Otherwise, the sites are officially “commissioned”. Canberra. In other words, they are bound to pay the amount imposed by the public authorities.

IN: Are contracts signed by all actors involved?

TF: No, but even today, there is tremendous ambiguity on the matter. Contracts between the media also came to an end GAFA are secret. So we don't know who signed it and what amount was paid.

IN: We really don't know about the amounts paid by GAFA?

TF: LEstimates vary from 200 to 250 million Australian dollars (121 to 151 million euros) per year. We know that most of these amounts are paid to some rare media (almost 90% of which is compensated Newscorp of Rupert Murdoch and television channels Seven And Nine Editor's note) but we don't have precise details. We know that some media like public television channel SBSNot contracted with GAFA. Another public channel ABC, she did. He also announced that the compensation given allowed him to hire 60 additional journalists. About thirty media outlets have signed the agreement Meta And Google But this figure is only an estimate.

IN: Why doesn't the government impose a law that applies to all media and all digital platforms?

TF: The government believes that these different actors have every interest in coming to terms, so it does not have to interfere in their negotiations.

IN: Contracts concluded in 2021 will expire at the end of this year. Do they automatically update?

TF: It obviously isn't. Meta, specifically, estimates that information generates 3% of traffic to its sites. So he threatens to no longer deliver news on his networks. This is already the case Facebook and greatly reduced the flow of information about its algorithms Instagram And texts. I think so Meta It is preparing to ban all news from its sites as it has already done Since Canada announced that this country intends to introduce regulations similar to ours. Meta Aggressive and ready to fight against laws that disturb him.

IN: Is Google sophisticated?

TF: It seems so. Google There seems to be a greater desire to act as a “good citizen”. In many media Australia However, we want to avoid conflict with sites, because if their content is banned from these sites, they could lose a significant portion of their income.