The levy proceeds will fund local news outlets to stabilize funding as digital ad dollars shift away from traditional media.

Critics argue the policy still excludes AI’s impact on news traffic and may be unevenly applied across publishers.

Key government supporters stress journalism’s role in democracy and a sustainable media sector, affirming the legislation’s core intent.

The major platforms affected include Google, Meta, and TikTok, with LinkedIn now explicitly covered after exemptions were removed.

An exemption for professional networking platforms has been scrapped, bringing LinkedIn under the levy.

Facebook/Meta criticizes the measure as discriminatory and economically incoherent, arguing it won’t sustain the news sector and amounts to a tax on innovation.

Assistant Treasurer says the goal is to compensate news-providing organizations and support a sustainable ecosystem by targeting the portion of a tech company’s business that uses news content.

Past attempts to compel payment prompted threats to withdraw news; the new scheme closes loopholes by applying to major platforms even if they don’t host news.

Legislation is expected to be introduced when Parliament reconvenes later this month as a step toward ensuring global tech firms contribute to local journalism.

Changes aim to reduce bias toward large outlets by boosting distribution for smaller publishers and prioritizing diverse media deals.

Australiа is increasing the News Bargaining Levy to 2.5% of a platform’s Australian digital advertising revenue for large tech companies that do not reach agreements with local news outlets, up from 2.25%.

The updated draft narrows the levy to advertising revenue only and raises the rate, while expanding support for smaller and regional publishers.