Australia's parliament has passed legislation forcing major tech companies, including Meta, Google, TikTok and LinkedIn, to pay levies unless they strike funding deals with local news publishers. The law replaces a 2021 scheme that the Australian government said was "no longer working effectively," and aims to ensure news organisations are compensated for content that tech platforms benefit from through user engagement and advertising revenue.

Under the new rules, companies earning more than AU$250 million ($178 million) in local ad revenue and operating a "significant" social media service or search engine will have to pay 2.75 percent of their local revenues if they fail to reach agreements with at least eight news outlets by the end of their reporting period. Payouts to publishers will be based on the number of journalists, including freelancers, they employ. The previous 2021 rules had prompted Meta to briefly block news sharing in Australia before agreeing deals that later lapsed two years ago; the company took a similar step in Canada three years ago.