Australia has settled the final shape of its News Bargaining Incentive, and the terms got tougher for large platforms. The charge rises to 2.5% of Australian digital advertising revenue, up from the 2.25% in the April draft, and professional networking services — meaning LinkedIn — lose the carve-out that would have exempted them. Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino announced the changes, with legislation due in parliament within weeks.
How the incentive works
The design is a stick with a discount rather than a straight tax. Platforms above the revenue threshold owe the charge, but money spent on commercial deals with Australian news publishers can be offset against it. Strike enough deals and the bill drops toward zero; strike none and the full 2.5% applies.
The threshold is A$250 million (around ₱10.8 billion) a year in digital advertising revenue attributable to significant social media and search services operating in Australia. That scope covers Meta, Google and TikTok — the three named when the policy was announced in 2024 — and now LinkedIn as well.
One change went the platforms' way. The Next Web reports the revenue base was narrowed from "consolidated revenue attributable to Australia" to digital advertising revenue specifically, answering company complaints that the original wording taxed income unrelated to news.
What changed for publishers
The adjustments after consultation lean toward smaller outlets. Reporting on the final package sets out the details:
- The offset rate for deals with small publishers rises to 200%, up from 170% in the draft — every peso-equivalent spent with a small outlet counts double against the charge.
- Money collected from platforms that refuse to deal goes into a News Journalism Payment Scheme.
- 5% of that pool is set aside for grants to publishers earning under A$150,000 (around ₱6.5 million) a year.
- Funding for regional journalism and underrepresented communities increases by 20%.
- The whole scheme faces a three-year review.
The government received 85 stakeholder submissions on the April exposure draft before consultation closed in May.
The political framing, and the pushback
Mulino said the changes "do not alter the intent of the legislation and remain true to the policy rationale." Communications Minister Anika Wells put it in blunter terms: "Journalism is the lifeblood of a robust democracy, which is why the Albanese government is backing a strong and sustainable media sector."
Meta is not persuaded. The company has accused Australia of breaching its trade agreements with the United States and called the proposal grossly unfair. That objection carries more weight than usual: Meta already stopped paying Australian publishers under the earlier News Media Bargaining Code, and the incentive exists precisely because the previous scheme stopped producing deals.
Why a Philippine reader should care
There is no equivalent measure in the Philippines, and as of publication no Philippine bill has been filed that would require Google, Meta or TikTok to pay local news publishers. Philippine lawmakers debating platform regulation have concentrated on false-information and takedown proposals instead. So the direct answer to "does this affect me?" is: not yet, and not directly.
The indirect part is where it matters. Filipino news outlets depend heavily on Facebook and Google for distribution, and they have no bargaining leverage of the kind Australian publishers are being handed by statute. Australia is now the clearest test case of whether a government can force platforms into paying for news without triggering a news blackout — Meta pulled news from its platforms in Canada rather than pay under a similar law. If Australia's version works, it becomes the template other markets copy. If Meta walks away again, that outcome will shape what any future Philippine proposal dares to ask for.
It also sits alongside a broader pattern of regulators putting terms on platforms rather than asking politely: the EU has already ruled Instagram and Facebook "addictive" and pushed for infinite scroll off by default, and the UK plans to bar under-16s from TikTok, Instagram and YouTube from spring 2027.
What happens next
The bill goes to parliament within weeks. The number to watch is not the 2.5% headline — it is how many commercial deals get signed once the charge is law. That is the entire point of the design: the government would rather collect nothing and see deals signed than collect the levy. Whether platforms read it the same way is the open question.
