Australia’s opposition guard dog on Monday blamed Google for sharing “deception” about a proposed law that would require the pursuit mammoth to pay media organizations for news content. The reaction comes after Google distributed an open letter saying new guideline will “hurt how Australians use Google Search and YouTube.”
“A proposed law, the News Media Bargaining Code, 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,” Google Managing Director Mel Silva said Monday in the open letter. The search giant also has a message on its Australian homepage stating that the “way Aussies use Google is at risk” and links to its open letter.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission pushed back, saying Google won’t have to charge for utilization of its free administrations or offer any extra client information with news organizations.
“Google will not be required to charge Australians for the use of its free services such as Google Search and YouTube, unless it chooses to do so,” the ACCC said in its response. “The draft code will allow Australian news businesses to negotiate for fair payment for their journalists’ work that is included on Google services.”
Google said it never expected to charge clients for its free administrations, however that the code, as drafted now, would harm its items and client encounters.
“For instance, the Code expects us to give all news media organizations notification ahead of time of calculation changes and clarify how they can limit the impacts. In any event, accepting Google could consent to this arrangement, it would genuinely harm our items and client experience,” said a Google representative in a messaged explanation Wednesday. “It would affect our capacity to keep on indicating clients the most pertinent helpful outcomes on Google Search and YouTube.”
Australia presented a draft of the News Media Bargaining Code a month ago. The guideline would require computerized stages, at first Google and Facebook, to haggle with news sources and pay for news content that shows up on their administrations. The draft law additionally expresses that Google would need to give news sources notice of changes to its calculations that could affect things like referral traffic or search positioning.
The ACCC said conversations regarding the draft will happen until Aug. 28, with a last form coming “soon after.”
