New tax announced for social media giants

The federal government has announced a new levy for social media giants to encourage them to pay local news organisations for content.

Transcript

00:00Facebook, Google and TikTok could be forced to pay a new tax to fund Australian main news

00:05and journalism.

00:07The federal government has announced a tax scheme to make the social media platforms

00:11support local news, even if they don't host it on their sites.

00:17The levy would pour millions of dollars back into local news organisations and newsrooms

00:21across Australia.

00:23The announcement comes after Meta, who owns Facebook and Instagram, pulled out of a deal

00:29with news organisations at the start of 2024.

00:32We want to see them continue to make a contribution to journalism in Australia.

00:38We think it's their obligation.

00:40The new levy is designed to encourage tech giants to negotiate deals with print and online

00:44news publications, with those who choose to do so exempt from the tax.

00:50A Meta spokesperson said the company had concerns about charging one industry to subsidise another.

00:57The tax is set to be rolled out in January 2025.