Google threatened to shut down its search engine in Australia if officials there approve a law requiring it to pay news publishers for their content.
In a dramatic escalation of its aggressive fight against the proposal, the Silicon Valley titan on Friday claimed the measure would “break the way Google works” because the company would have to pay to show links to news articles.
“This code creates an unreasonable and unmanageable financial and operational risk to our business,” Google Australia managing director Mel Silva said in an open letter, echoing comments she made before an Australian senate committee.
“If the code were to become law in its current form, we would have no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia.”
The proposal — which is being widely watched and could serve as a model for other countries whose local media have been hurt by the growing dominance of Google and Facebook over online advertising — would allow news companies to negotiate payments from the tech giants for the use of their content that appears in search results or news feeds. An arbitrator would decide the price if the parties are unable to reach a deal.
Google had previously said the measure would put its free services — including its search engine and YouTube — “at risk” in Australia if it became law. Google now says that YouTube would not be affected by the proposal in its current form.
Aussie Prime Minister Scott Morrison fired back at Google’s threat to block search access, saying the country makes rules for “things you can do in Australia.”
“People who want to work with that in Australia, you’re very welcome. But we don’t respond to threats,” Morrison said.
It’s not the first heavy-fisted swipe Google has taken in the Australian showdown. Recently, the company buried articles from major news sites Down Under in its search results in what it called “an experiment.”
The move deprived Australians of timely information during the coronavirus crisis and showed Google’s outsize market power, Chris Janz, an executive at Nine Entertainment Co., owner of the Sydney Morning Herald, recently told a parliamentary committee.
“Their market credibility, business models and substantial valuations have been built on having free and unfettered access to quality journalism and content,” Janz said. “Content that is created and funded by others.”
Google’s latest offensive came after US trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers asked Australia to ditch the proposed law, saying it would be “to the clear detriment of two US firms.”
The proposal has broad political support down under and is backed by publishers such as News Corp., which owns The Post and publishes eight of Australia’s top 10 newspapers.
Despite its resistance in Australia, Google earlier this week reached a deal with a French publishing group that provides a framework for compensating news companies for their content.
With Post wires