On August 26, The Australian reported that Google is suspected of using “scare tactics” to push back against the recent passage by the Australia Competition & Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) mandatory bargaining code to fairly compensate news publishers. Both Senators and Members of Parliament have received thousands of emails, all with the same message condemning the bargaining code. These messages are apparently sourced from an anonymous Change.org petition with over 40,000 signatures calling the Code an “assault on Australia’s democracy.” A Google spokesman said they have been informing users, creators, and partners about the law, but they are “not involved with this petition or email campaign in any way.” Read more here.
Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
