Media minefield
Labor is pushing ahead with its News Bargaining Incentive and streaming quotas, betting Canberra’s agenda can survive US scrutiny and avoid a Trump backlash.
How confident can media executives be in Labor’s ability to finalise two major policies that have drawn the ire of America’s largest tech and streaming platforms, without provoking blowback from US President Donald Trump?
As noted in The Signal last night, this was the key question swirling after Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino announced the government would revive its efforts to force tech firms to pay for news.
Mulino last week confirmed the News Bargaining Incentive will be pushed through a four-week consultation process set to wrap up by Christmas. This will inform one of the most significant pieces of policy the media and tech sectors have seen in a decade.
The incentive aims to force the likes of Meta and Google to strike commercial deals with publishers to offset a levy on their Australian revenues. It is one of three major initiatives involving tech giants the Albanese government is pursuing, at least two of which are on the radar of the Trump administration.
