Australian Government Introduces Legislation Establishing Mandatory Code of Conduct for Online Platforms

On December 9, the Australian government published its proposed legislation to create an enforceable code to require online platforms to pay news publishers for their content. The law will codify the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) draft code released earlier this year, reportedly with some changes. The code requires Google and Facebook to negotiate with news publishers, individually or collectively, for compensation. If the parties are unable to find a compromise agreement, the code establishes an arbitration procedure, managed by an independent arbitrator. According to news reports, the code will initially only apply to Facebook News Feed and Google Search, although it may be expanded in the future. The legislation has now been sent to Parliament, which will have to approve it before it enters into force. Read more here.

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