Google threatens to pull search engine from Australia if forced to pay for news
Google has threatened to pull its search engine in Australia if the country goes forward with a media code that would make tech giants pay for news content.
Australia is due to pass laws that would force both Google and Facebook to negotiate payments with local publishers and broadcasters for content. If they can't strike a deal, a government-appointed arbitrator will decide the price.
On Friday, Google said that it would disable its search function if the laws came to fruition.
"The code's arbitration model with bias criteria presents unmanageable financial and operational risk for Google," Mel Silva, managing director for Australia and New Zealand, told a senate committee.
"If this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia."
Google said that offering even a limited search tool would be too risky. The company does not disclose sales from Australia, but search ads are its biggest contributor to revenue and profit globally.
Google's comments drew a sharp rebuke from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison who said the country makes its rules for "things you can do in Australia."
"People who want to work with that in Australia, you're very welcome. But we don't respond to threats," Morrison told reporters.
The Australian government introduced the legislation after it found that Google and Facebook had too much market power in the media sector. It claimed that the tech companies’ power could potentially pose a threat to a well-functioning democracy.
Google's threat to limit its services in Australia came just hours after the internet giant reached a content-payment deal with some French news publishers.
Facebook has similarly labelled the code "unworkable" in its current form and said it would cause the social media platform to stop publishing Australian news.
"The great majority of people who are using Facebook would continue to be able to do so, but we would no longer be able to provide news," Facebook's Simon Milner told the hearing.
Both Facebook and Google stressed they were willing to pay media companies for their content through various direct arrangements, including in products like Facebook News and Google News Showcase. They also put forward a host of amendments to avoid a showdown.
Mr Silva said that withdrawing its services from Australia was the “last thing” Google wanted to happen and insisted there was a “clear pathway to a fair and workable code”.
The US government this week asked Australia to scrap the proposed laws, which have broad political support, and suggested Australia should pursue a voluntary code instead.
Google's testimony "is part of a pattern of threatening behaviour that is chilling for anyone who values our democracy," said Peter Lewis, director of the Australia Institute's Centre for Responsible Technology .
In a submission, assistant US trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers, said that Australia should “further study the markets, and if appropriate, develop a voluntary code”.
“The US government is concerned that an attempt, through legislation, to regulate the competitive positions of specific players ... to the clear detriment of two US firms, may result in harmful outcomes,” the document stated, according to a report from Reuters.
