The company’s main concern with the proposal is that it would “require payments simply for links and snippets only to the results of news in the Search,” according to Silva.
“The free service we offer to Australian users and our business model have been based on the ability to link freely between websites,” he said.
Google and Facebook have been fighting for years over publishers over how they display their content, with media companies arguing that tech giants should pay them the privilege. Critics of the two technology companies point out that as they dominate the online advertising business, it puts news publishers in an obligation and leaves them looking for remnants.
The new legislation would allow certain media outlets to negotiate individually or collectively with Facebook and Google and enter into arbitration if the parties do not reach an agreement within three months, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, who published the proposed legislation.
On Friday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attacked Google.
Asked about Morrison’s statements, Google declined to comment.
A “consequences” warning
The American giant is now proposing three changes to the code, including how it would compensate news editors.
The company also wants to modify a requirement that would force Google to notify publishers of changes to its algorithm, saying it should only do so “to make sure publishers can respond to changes that affect them.”
“There is a clear path to a fair and viable code,” Silva said. “Withdrawing our services from Australia is the last thing we want Google or Google to want to happen, especially when there’s another way to go.”
An aggressive battle
At the same Senate session on Friday, Simon Milner, Facebook’s vice president of public policy for Asia and the Pacific, said the company could block news content in Australia, though he stressed the commitment “to make it viable the law “.
Milner told lawmakers there was already a “deterrent effect of this law on investment in the Australian news industry”, citing a recent Facebook decision to launch an information product in the UK instead of Australia.
Regulators say legislation is needed to level the playing field for news media in Australia, as newsrooms across the country have reduced service, closed temporarily or closed permanently.
– Hanna Ziady contributed to this report.