Media: Google threatens to suspend its search engine in Australia
US digital giant Google is threatening to suspend its search engine in Australia if Canberra does not withdraw its media compensation plan.
ASSOCIATED PRESS - Paul Sakuma
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
Canberra plans to force the Californian digital giant to pay media for their content.
Google toughened its tone by threatening this Friday, January 22 for the first time to block its search engine in Australia if the project is not modified.
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The Australian government is working on a "
binding code of conduct
" to govern relations between media in dire financial straits and the giants that dominate the Internet.
Foremost among which are Google and Facebook, which capture a significant portion of advertising revenue.
This project provides for penalties of several million euros in the event of infringement and targets the "
news feed
" of Facebook and searches on Google.
If the project goes as it is, it would be the "
worst case scenario
," said Google Australia chief executive Mel Silva during a hearing in the Australian Senate on Friday.
“
If this version of the code becomes law,
” she added, “
it would leave us no real choice but to suspend Google Search in Australia.
"
A threat to which Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison curtly replied: “
Australia makes the rules as to what can be done in Australia.
It is our Parliament that decides.
People who are willing to work in this setting in Australia are welcome.
But we do not bow to threats.
"
"
Untenable precedent
"
The Australian initiative is being followed closely around the world at a time when media is suffering in a digital economy where ad revenue is increasingly captured by Facebook, Google and other big tech firms.
The media crisis has been made worse by the economic collapse linked to the pandemic.
In Australia dozens of newspapers have been closed and hundreds of journalists fired.
The draft code provides for Google and Facebook to remunerate Australian media, whether it is the ABC public group or the titles of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp group, for the recovery of their content.
Canberra has decided to target only Facebook and Google, but not other very popular platforms like Instagram or YouTube.
►
See also: Australia: Google calls on Internet users against a law on media remuneration
One of the most controversial aspects is that Google and Facebook should enter into binding arbitration with each media, for lack of amicable agreement.
The arbitrator would decide between the position of the media and the tech giants on the amount of compensation.
"
This provision of the code would set an untenable precedent for our sector and the digital economy
," said Mel Silva on Friday.
It is not compatible with the way search engines or the Internet work.
The general manager of Google Australia assured that the Californian firm wished to support the media, and suggested modifications to the draft code which is to come into force this year.
“
There is a clear path to developing a fair code that we can work with, if we just make small amendments,
” she said.
Facebook threats
Google recently argued that it could prevent content from Australian media sites from appearing in responses on its search engine.
He has even started to test this measure with a small number of Internet users.
Washington has also just urged Canberra to abandon a "
fundamentally unbalanced
" project in favor of the media.
Facebook also rejected the code in its current form, saying it would stop posting Australian media content if it came into effect.
►
To read: Competition: American justice is preparing a lawsuit against Google
Competition rules or copyright
Australia had initially proposed a "
voluntary code of conduct
", before hardening its position by affirming that a fair agreement could not be found between the media and the giants of the tech, given their respective weights.
Australia is not the only market where Google is in conflict with the media.
But unlike other countries that take the problem from a copyright perspective, it relies on competition rules.
This Thursday, the Californian group announced the conclusion of a framework agreement which paves the way for the remuneration of French dailies under "
neighboring rights
", this new right similar to copyright established by a European directive ago two years.
►
To read also: Neighboring rights: Google signed an agreement to pay the French press
with AFP
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