EDITORIAL: Democracy depends on reliable, trustworthy news

If you’re a tech giant, business is booming.

Meta, the owner of social media platforms Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, reported revenue of $243 billion in the past year.

Google parent Alphabet recorded 15 per cent growth and $134 billion in revenue last quarter alone.

Twitter boss Elon Musk is now the richest person to have ever lived, with a net worth of $625 billion.

So why are these companies squabbling over being asked to pay a fair price for the news content created and paid for by Australian publishers which they then use to turn a profit?

We’re talking a piffling few hundred million between them — the sort of sum Musk finds wedged between the seat cushions of his Cybertruck.

The short answer is that they don’t want to set a precedent which could see news outlets around the world demanding to be paid fairly for the news and content they create.

That would affect these tech platforms’ bottom lines by jeopardising their business model, which relies on siphoning off advertising revenue which could otherwise go to the publishers themselves to be reinvested into more journalism. And if there is one thing these companies care about, it’s making vast sums of money.

Anything else — including the enduring strength of democracy — is a distant secondary consideration, if it’s a consideration at all.

So these tech giants fought tooth and nail against efforts by Australia, beginning under the Morrison government, to bring them to the negotiating table with publishers.

Some, including Google, have since seen the sense in compensating news outlets for the journalism they produce. They understand that it is their best interests, and the best interests of their audience, to have fair and accurate news easily accessible on their platforms.

Others — namely Mark Zuckerberg’s belligerent behemoth Meta — have been less co-operative.

Meta reneged on deals struck with Australian publishers under the Morrison-era News Bargaining Code. They threw the toys out of the cot by threatening to pull news content from their sites completely, leaving audiences without access reliable information.

So the Albanese Government decided a bigger stick was needed.

Under its reinvigorated news bargaining plan, tech companies will be “incentivised” to reach deals with news organisations with the threat that they would otherwise be forced to pay more than what those deals would cost in tax.

Any revenue collected through the initiative would then be distributed by the Government to publishers.

Should it operate as intended, the updated code should benefit Australians by ensuring that they have news provided by trusted sources.

That will allow us and other media outlets across the country to continue to serve our audiences, by bringing you the facts and insight you need to make sense of the world. It’s a responsibility we take seriously, and one we intend to continue to fulfil well into the future.