Aug 17, 2020 13:55:00

Google announces a statement against the law that 'Google and Facebook must pass the data of news readers to the media'

About the Australian bill ``

News Media Bargaining Code ( News Media Bargaining Code ) '' that the news media will be able to negotiate equally with Google and Facebook on the distribution and use of profits obtained from articles An open letter has been announced. In a letter, Google said, 'the law dramatically deteriorates Google and YouTube searches, threatening user data to large news companies and the services that have been offered free of charge.' I will.

Open letter-The way Aussies search with Google is at risk-Google
https://about.google/intl/ALL_au/google-in-australia/an-open-letter/

Draft news media bargaining code | ACCC
https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/digital-platforms/draft-news-media-bargaining-code#about-the-draft-code

Google warns consumers ACCC code will create a'dramatically worse Google Search and Youtube'
https://mumbrella.com.au/google-warns-consumers-accc-code-will-create-a-dramatically-worse-google-search-and-youtube-638871

For some time, the Australian government has been working on legislation to distribute the profits Google and Facebook make from news distribution to the news media.

Government moves to create rules to distribute revenue earned by Google and Facebook from news collection and distribution to existing media-GIGAZINE

At the request of the Australian Government, the Australian Committee on Competition and Consumers (ACCC) announced on 31st July 2020 a draft of the 'News Media Negotiation Act,' a law governing negotiations between news media and platforms. .. On this law, the ACCC names Google and Facebook, saying, 'The government has asked us to create a code of conduct to address the disparities in our bargaining power between our news media and digital platforms, especially between Google and Facebook. I requested it.'

In the announcement of the new bill, the ACCC says that in addition to the provisions on profit sharing, the following three points are included as 'minimum standards'.

・Please notify us in advance if you change the algorithm for ranking or news display.
・To be able to properly identify the original news content.
-Provide news publishers with the reader data collected by Google and Facebook through news content.

The law aims to correct the imbalance in power relations between news media publishing Australian media and platforms such as Google, and to maintain media independence, which is essential for democracy. However, there is also a backlash against the provisions of the law such as the delivery of user data.

On August 17, Google released an open letter summarizing Google's views on the bill on a special page created to appeal to Australian users. Among them, Google's Australian business leader Mel Silva pointed out that the news media negotiation law may cause Australian users to suffer the following three disadvantages.

・The convenience of Google search and YouTube will be impaired because Google will be forced to make unfair advantage of news media.
・By passing data such as Google search to news media, user's personal information is exposed.
・Unreasonable requests from major media companies threaten the survival of the services that Google has provided for free.

In addition, YouTube's Asia Pacific operations director Gautam Anand

updated the official blog on August 17: ``The new law, which was published this time, is more traditional than smaller creators and viewers. As we prioritize the news industry, we are deeply concerned about its impact on multiple areas,' he reiterated that YouTube's searchability and creators' earnings will be adversely affected.

Meanwhile, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said during an August 6 conference hosted by the Australian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce , 'The cutting-edge and innovative services of digital platforms such as Google are irreplaceable for people and businesses. “It has been proven to be non-existent,” he admits, “the digital platform has gained tremendous benefits from utilizing Australian news.”

``Australian companies, including the media, need to be able to compete in the new digital era, while leveraging their strengths,'' said Sims. We couldn't adapt well to the wave of.” He said he needed legislation to bridge the gap between global IT companies and domestic media.

The News Media Negotiation Act, which was drafted on 31 July, is expected to be submitted to the Australian Parliament after receiving input from stakeholders until 28 August.