The Australian government is set to impose significant charges on major tech companies if they fail to compensate local media firms for news content featured on their platforms. Tech giants Meta Platforms and Google, among others, are being pushed to form financial agreements with publishers, providing an incentive for cooperation between them and Australian news businesses.

This regulation will apply to social media platforms and search engines earning more than $250 million in Australian-sourced revenue.

However, the costs can be mitigated if voluntary commercial agreements are made between the platforms and news media businesses. Tech firms have been critical of the plan, arguing it overlooks the functional realities of their platforms.

The proposal forms part of Australia's increasingly stringent approach to overseas tech firms, as it became the first nation to prohibit under-16s from using social media last month.

In response, Meta has begun reducing its promotion of news and political content internationally. The proposed rules, which are expected to benefit Australian news organisations, are touted as sending a global message against the dominance of Big Tech.

- CyberBeat