US tech giant Google on Friday threatened to block its services in Australia if the government proceeds with plans to make it and Facebook pay media companies for news content. The mandatory code of conduct proposed by the Australian government aims to make Google and Facebook pay local media companies for the right to use their news content in search results or news feeds. “If this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google search available in Australia,” Mel Silva, managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, told a Senate inquiry into the bill. According to Silva, 95 percent of internet searches in Australia are done through Google. If Australia and the tech giants cannot come to an agreement, a government-appointed arbitrator will decide the price.

Source: Egypt Independent January 22, 2021 11:26 UTC