Big Tech should fund good journalism

They have been forced to play by the rules and pay for the content curated from publishers.

Published: Tue 16 Feb 2021, 11:31 PM

It’s both good and big news that Big Tech is finally being regulated after years of making a clean sweep of ads, revenues and profits that rightfully belonged to publishers. Curated content produced by news media on these platforms was easy money for smart technology companies who raked in billions as the real creators looked doomed. Credible information from reliable sources suffered as a result. Fake news was peddled and technology had grown larger than we-the-people who were supposed to run it. Not anymore.

These seemingly larger-than-life tech corporations have now been brought down to earth, in Australia. They have been forced to play by the rules and pay for the content curated from publishers. In other words, Google and Facebook will finance modern journalism that will help in the innovative delivery of content – a more charitable expression – for these landmark reforms. The first deals will be signed with Australian media and could be worth $30 million, according to reports. The reforms are under the watchful eye of the Australian government that is laying down a world-first law. We may be witnessing history in the making which is great for the news landscape and for journalism as an honourable profession.

Google’s and Facebook’s outsized influence had spread as they posed as news platforms for more than a decade. Search and you found news or you simply posted, not knowing the effort journalists put in gathering and covering issues that mattered to people. These platforms were having a free, curated lunch for many years as they grew and trampled upon large and small media. But this media-tech development in Australia could be the start of a long process when other countries follow suit to free their news from the tech yoke. Big Government has saved the day for publishers. The new Australian legislation could set a precedent in other countries who are considering ways to control Facebook and Google who have monopolised and straddled both tech and information with ease. Calls are growing in the US and Europe to cut them down to size, or break them up as they fuel our virtual needs and curtails other innovative technology companies. The question is: can we do without them? Perhaps not, but the Australian public overwhelmingly thinks search and social platforms promote fake news that they can do without. The answer: publishers share content with Big Tech that shares profits from online ads. It’s a win-win situation for both and will serve the cause of free speech better while promoting credible news.