Australia’s Plan to Make Tech Pay for News

Paris Marx is joined by Lizzie O’Shea to discuss how Australia’s plan to make Google and Facebook pay news publishers entrenches a data-extractive business model and aligns the interests of tech giants and media companies against those of the public.

Lizzie O’Shea is a human rights lawyer and the founder of Digital Rights Watch. She’s also the author of “Future Histories: What Ada Lovelace, Tom Paine, and the Paris Commune Can Teach Us about Digital Technology.” Follow Lizzie on Twitter as @Lizzie_OShea.

• Lizzie wrote about the problems with this plan for Overland Journal and Nikkei Asia.
• Paris wrote about why we shouldn’t link big tech and news giants for Tribune Magazine.
• Facebook restricted news sharing in Australia, while Google has signed deals with News Corp, Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media, and more for its News Showcase.
• Australia has among the most concentrated media ownership in the world. Former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull called for a royal commission on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.
• Australia’s competition regulator released a digital platforms report with recommendations that included the bargaining code in 2019.
• Canada and the European Union may copy Australia’s model. French publishers are already getting paid by Google.

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