News Media Bargaining Code

Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Act 2021
Parliament of Australia
  • A Bill for an Act to amend the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 in relation to digital platforms, and for related purposes
Citation"Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021". Parliament of Australia. 17 February 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
Territorial extentAustralia
Passed byAustralian House of Representatives
Passed17 February 2021
Enacted25 February 2021 (with amendments from the Senate)
Passed byAustralian Senate
Passed24 February 2021
Royal assent2 March 2021
Commenced3 March 2021
Legislative history
First chamber: Australian House of Representatives
Bill titleTreasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020
Introduced byJosh Frydenberg
First reading9 December 2020
Second reading17 February 2021
Third reading17 February 2021
Second chamber: Australian Senate
Bill titleTreasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021
Member(s) in chargeZed Seselja
First reading22 February 2021
Second reading23 February 2021
Third reading24 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."[1]
Status: Current legislation

The News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC, or News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code)[1] 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,[2] including "content that reports, investigates or explains ... current issues or events of public significance for Australians at a local, regional or national level."[3]: 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.[4][5] In response, on 18 February 2021, Facebook blocked Australian users from sharing or viewing news content on its platform.[6] The Australian government strongly criticised the move, saying it demonstrated the "immense market power of these digital social giants".[7] A few days later, Australia and Facebook came to an agreement on restoring news pages.[8]

  1. ^ a b "ParlInfo - Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021". parlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Understanding Facebook's News Ban in Australia, and What it Means for the Platform Moving Forward". Google Partner Team. 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021". The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. 2021. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference accc202007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Meixner, Sophie (19 February 2021). "Facebook news ban drops reader traffic to news stories by 13 per cent within Australia, Chartbeat data shows". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Facebook blocks Australian users from viewing or sharing news". BBC News. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  8. ^ Choudhury, Saheli Roy (22 February 2021). "Facebook to restore news pages for Australian users in coming days". CNBC. Retrieved 22 February 2021.