The Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, the nations’ largest grassroots advocacy group representing taxpayers, today warned against the dangerous side effects of the ACCC’s News media bargaining code in response to Facebook’s . Should the ACCC regulations go forward, Facebook has threatened to remove all news content.
“The ACCC wants to use a kangaroo court arbitration system to force tech giants to subsidise traditional media,” said ATA Communications Director, Emilio Garcia, “Facebook’s announcement that it would ban all news content from its platform if the ACCC’s regulations are implemented is terrifying, but not surprising. “
“Government overregulation continues to make running a business in Australia increasingly expensive and risky. The ACCC’s action on big tech is no exception. Successful companies struggle to thrive when, at any moment, the government could force them to hand over large portions of their profits to industries in decline.”
“The ACCC’s regulations give Facebook a choice between eliminating news content on its platform altogether or letting corporate news outlets leach seemingly unlimited sums off of their profits. Few businesses could survive the second choice.”
“. As a result, the ACCC’s regulations would stop millions from easily accessing news content. Hindering the public’s ability to access journalistic sources would have problematic and compounding ramifications.”
“The ACCC’s regulations are not well thought through, and the implementation of such rules would be messy and complex. Beyond that, we should not accept the premise that the government should have the power to force one company to subsidise another. Once that precedent is set, there is no knowing where it will end. The parliament of Australia must vote down the ACCC’s regulations.”
