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Indie publishers fight for share of tech levy spoils as Microsoft stays silent

The lobby group for independent publishers has thrown its support behind Labor's new tech levy, but TikTok has hit out at the policy, while LinkedIn owner Microsoft is still silent.

John Buckley and Laurel Henning
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The policy, dubbed the “news bargaining incentive”, is expected to capture Meta, Alphabet-owned Google, Bytedance’s TikTok and possibly Microsoft. Sipa USA/Jaap Arriens.

The lobby group for independent publishers has cautiously endorsed Labor's new tech levy but will fight to ensure the spoils are not entirely consumed by legacy media giants, as LinkedIn owner Microsoft keeps mum despite backing the policy’s predecessor.

Tim Duggan, chair of the Digital Publishers Alliance (DPA), said the industry group expects to be heavily involved in work on the details of Labor’s new tech levy to ensure digital and independent publishers get a fair share in the funding set to flow through the sector.

“We believe there should be some form of ‘breadth and depth’ requirement in there that ensures that digital platforms can’t just make half a dozen deals with legacy publishers and wipe their hands with it,” Duggan told Capital Brief.

“That’s what happened the first time around with the [News Media Bargaining Code], and there needs to be some text in the policy that specifies smaller and independent publishers need to be included.”