They said they will “take inspiration” from proposed legislation in Australia to force tech platforms to share revenue with news companies and which includes an arbitration system to resolve disputes over a fair price for news.
Facebook last week blocked Australians from accessing and sharing news on its platform,in response to the government’s proposals,but the surprise move sparked a big public backlash and intensified the debate over how much power the social network has. Google,meanwhile,has taken a different tackby cutting payment deals with news organisations,after backing down from itsinitial threat to shut off its search engine for Australians.
The EU’s internal market commissioner,Thierry Breton,expressed support for Australia,in the latest signFacebook’s move has backfired.
“I think it’s very regrettable that a platform takes such decisions to protest against a country’s laws,” Breton told EU lawmakers. “It’s up to the platforms to adapt to regulators,not the other way around,” he said,adding that what’s happening in Australia “highlights an attitude that must change.” Breton is leading the EU’s sweeping overhaul of digital regulations aimed at taming the power of the big tech companies,amid growing concerns their algorithms are eroding democracy.
Microsoft is joining forces with two lobbying groups,the European Publishers Council and News Media Europe,along with two groups representing European newspaper and magazine publishers,which account for thousands of titles.The company has expressed support for Australia’s plans,which could help increase market share of its Bing search engine.
European Union countries are working on adopting by June revamped copyright rules set out by the EU executive that allow news companies and publishers to negotiate payments from digital platforms for online use of their content.