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FILE PHOTO. \u00a9 Reuters \/ Pawel Kopczynski<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
RT.com<\/p>\n
Australians could soon be deprived of Google\u2019s ubiquitous search engine, with the web behemoth threatening to cut off service should lawmakers pass a hot-button measure forcing tech firms to cough up revenue to media outlets.<\/p>\n
As Australian legislators continue to debate the controversial law \u2013 which would compel internet platforms to hand over a cut of revenues to press agencies for sharing their content \u2013 Google stepped into the fray on Friday, insisting the move would make its operations unfeasible in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe code\u2019s arbitration model with bias criteria presents unmanageable financial and operational risk for Google,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Mel Silva, managing director for Google\u2019s Australia and New Zealand branches, told a senate committee.<\/p>\n 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.<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The law was drafted last July following a lengthy probe by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which found that the bulk of the country\u2019s news sector depends on Google and Facebook for traffic, but has little influence over the massive tech firms. While ACCC investigation found the two platforms derive little ad revenue from news content, it said that more than one-third of Facebook users in the country use the website to access news, suggesting that press agencies and web platforms work out a \u2018fair price\u2019 for hosting news.<\/p>\n While the measure has found some support among Australians, Washington this week\u00a0called on Canberra<\/a>\u00a0to reconsider the law, which would likely have most impact on US-based firms Google and Facebook, proposing a\u00a0\u201cvoluntary\u201d<\/em>\u00a0media code in its place.<\/p>\n Facebook, for its part, has also criticized the law, arguing that it already sends vast amounts of traffic to Australian media outlets \u2013\u00a0\u201c2.3 billion clicks\u2026 at no charge,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0between January and May 2020, the company claimed \u2013 and that further payment should not be required.<\/p>\n Google\u2019s threat to blackout its search engine followed previous warnings that\u00a0\u201call options\u201d<\/em>\u00a0were on the table for its response to the proposed law. Silva\u2019s statement also came days after Google acknowledged it was running\u00a0\u201cexperiments\u201d<\/em>\u00a0with its algorithm, excluding a number of Australian outlets from its search results. Though Google said the tests were meant to\u00a0\u201cmeasure the impacts of news businesses and Google search on each other,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0a spokesman for the parent company of the Sydney Morning Herald said the move was a power play, intended to prove\u00a0\u201chow easily they can make Australian news providers who fall out of their favor effectively disappear from the internet.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n