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Briefing

Google warns Australian news rule threatens free search services

In an open letter signed by its Australian managing director, Mel Silva, and posted on Monday, the company warned that the landmark proposal to make it pay for news content “would force us to provide you with a dramatically worse Google Search and YouTube, could lead to your data being handed over to big news businesses, and would put the free services you use at risk in Australia.” The U.S. company has also suspended a news licensing agreement it signed with some Australian publishers this year, according to the Financial Times. (Financial Times)

Briefing

Google warns Australian news rule threatens free search services

By David Skok
Aug 17, 2020
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In an open letter signed by its Australian managing director, Mel Silva, and posted on Monday, the company warned that the landmark proposal to make it pay for news content “would force us to provide you with a dramatically worse Google Search and YouTube, could lead to your data being handed over to big news businesses, and would put the free services you use at risk in Australia.” The U.S. company has also suspended a news licensing agreement it signed with some Australian publishers this year, according to the Financial Times. (Financial Times)

Talking point: Australia’s competition regulator published a draft law last month designed to force Google and Facebook to pay news publishers in exchange for using their content. The letter appears to ramp up Google’s lobbying effort against the law. Other countries, including Canada, are watching closely. In May, Canadian publishers wrote an open letter requesting the tech giants share their ad revenue with news publishers.

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