Google threatens to disable searches in Australia due to press law

Google on Friday threatened to disable the search function in Australia if the Parliament of Canberra passes a law that would force it, like Facebook and other big tech companies, to pay local media to publish their content.

According to the project, which was presented last month before the Parliament of Canberra, the Government will designate an intermediary to determine the amount to be paid for the consideration of the content published by internet platforms in the event that an agreement is not reached through a negotiation between the parties.

Google Australia Managing Director Mel Silva in a virtual appearance before a Senate committee that analyzes the bill said, if this version of the code becomes law, it would give us no choice but to stop the availability of Google Search available in Australia.

Silva stressed that this option would occur in the worst case scenario insisting that for Google the legislative proposal would create an unmanageable risk for our businesses in a digital economy. It is not compatible with the way search engines operate.

After learning of the Google threat, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters in Brisbrane that Parliament and the Government of Canberra determine the rules of the game and if you want to work with them, in Australia, you are welcome, but we do not respond to threats.

The Senate committee plans to deliver its report on this bill on February 12, which has been criticized by the creator of the World Wide Web, the British Tim Berners-Lee, who said it may contravene the principles of the web by requiring payment to link certain content online.

For their part, the senior commercial representatives of the US Government Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers urged Canberra to suspend its plans to carry out this project by expressing that it may generate concern about Australia's international trade obligations, they wrote a letter to the committee.

The proposal, which aims to protect local media, responds to the recommendations of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission set out in December 2019 in a report on the impact of search engines and social networks on the advertising and media market.

The day before, Google reached an agreement with the editors of French newspapers on a system to remunerate them for publishing their content , ending a months long dispute that had reached the courts.