Australia is taking definitive steps toward requiring Big Tech to compensate for news. The nation’s administration presented draft legislation on Tuesday mandating that companies like Meta, Google, and TikTok pay for the journalism they aggregate or share, or else face a tax on their local earnings.

Communications minister Anika Wells remarked at a press briefing today: “More people are obtaining their news directly from Facebook, TikTok, and Google.”

The suggested legislation, named the News Bargaining Incentive (NBI), would impose a 2.25% tax on the Australian earnings of these platforms unless they negotiate commercial agreements with local news publishers. Moreover, the more agreements they establish with media outlets, the lesser their payment. If a sufficient number of deals are finalized, the effective rate could reduce to 1.5%, potentially delivering between A$200 million and A$250 million back to Australian journalism.

“Journalists are essential to Australia’s media landscape, serving a crucial function in keeping communities informed about significant news,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stated in a declaration.

This is the second attempt in the country to compel Big Tech to support journalism financially. The Australian government previously introduced the News Media Bargaining Code, which came into force in 2021, requiring platforms like Google and Meta to compensate news publishers. However, the initial version contained a flaw that allowed Big Tech firms to simply eliminate news from their platforms to avoid paying. Meta enacted this in 2024, reportedly resulting in significant job reductions throughout Australian newsrooms.

Meta’s choice to eliminate news content in 2024 left a noticeable void in Australia’s media regulations. The NBI represents the government’s effort to amend this, and this time, there is no escape route. Platforms will incur taxes regardless of whether they feature news. The Albanese administration first introduced the NBI in December 2024 as a substitute for the existing 2021 Code, and the draft legislation has finally emerged today.

The inclusion of TikTok represents a significant extension from the Code. Additionally, the draft legislation explicitly excludes AI services. Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino stated at today’s press briefing that AI “is not encompassed within this measure” due to “AI currently being evaluated through various other policy discussions, including, for instance, the copyright initiatives being led by the Attorney-General.”

The Trump administration has persistently opposed digital services taxes on American tech companies, frequently threatening tariffs against nations that proceed with them. Most recently, Trump cautioned the U.K. that it may face high tariffs unless London retracts its digital services tax on U.S. tech giants that benefit from British users, including Google, Meta, and Apple.

When a journalist inquired about the backlash from the White House, Albanese responded at the press briefing, “We are a sovereign nation, and my Government will make decisions grounded in the Australian national interest. We do that in every aspect.”

If enacted in Australia, platforms will have until July to comply, coinciding with the date the tax becomes effective.

Australia is not isolated in this struggle. Canada, Brazil, and the EU have all confronted Big Tech regarding news, with varying outcomes. Canada’s 2023 legislation led Meta to entirely remove news from its platform. Brazil’s bill has been stalled in legislative limbo since 2019. The EU has regulations in place, but enforcement is inconsistent. South Africa might provide the clearest model — regulators there negotiated direct agreements with Google, Meta, TikTok, and Microsoft, garnering approximately $40 million for local news organizations over five years.

Meta VP of Communication Andy Stone stated on X that the proposal is “merely a digital service tax,” asserting that news organizations choose to post content on Meta’s platforms. “We don’t take their news content,” Stone wrote. “Yet the tax applies whether news content is present on our platforms or not,” he stated.

Google, and TikTok did not promptly reply to requests for comments.

This article has been updated with remarks from Meta.