News Media Bargaining Code
| Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Act 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Parliament of Australia | |
| |
| Citation | Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Act 2021 (Cth) |
| Territorial extent | Australia |
| Passed by | Australian House of Representatives |
| Passed | 17 February 2021 |
| Enacted | 25 February 2021 (with amendments from the Senate) |
| Passed by | Australian Senate |
| Passed | 24 February 2021 |
| Royal assent | 2 March 2021 |
| Commenced | 3 March 2021 |
| Legislative history | |
| First chamber: Australian House of Representatives | |
| Bill title | Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020 |
| Bill citation | Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020 (Cth) |
| Introduced by | Josh Frydenberg |
| First reading | 9 December 2020 |
| Second reading | 17 February 2021 |
| Third reading | 17 February 2021 |
| Second chamber: Australian Senate | |
| Bill title | Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021 |
| Member(s) in charge | Zed Seselja |
| First reading | 22 February 2021 |
| Second reading | 23 February 2021 |
| Third reading | 24 February 2021 |
| Amends | |
| Competition and Consumer Act 2010 | |
| Summary | |
| "Establish a mandatory code of conduct that applies to news media businesses and digital platform corporations when bargaining in relation to news content made available by digital platform services." | |
| Status: Current legislation | |
The News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC, or News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) is a law designed to have large technology platforms that operate in Australia pay local news publishers for the news content made available or linked on their platforms. The law's definition of news is broad, including "content that reports, investigates or explains ... current issues or events of public significance for Australians at a local, regional or national level.": 3 Originating in April 2020, when the Australian Government asked the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) to begin drafting it, it achieved broad support in the Australian Parliament but staunch opposition from Facebook and Google.
Under the law, there are two ways for the eligible news organisations (the ones registered with the Australian Communications and Media Authority (the ACMA) to extract fees from the platforms:
- the news providers can directly negotiate agreements with the platforms;
- if negotiations are unsuccessful, the Treasurer of Australia can "designate" the platform, imposing mandatory fees.
As of November 2024, no platforms were designated and no designations were pending.