Google Threatens to Disable Search Engine in Australia, Policy Makers Cry 'Blackmail'

Urian B., Tech Times 22 January 2021, 12:01 am

(Photo : Screenshot From Pxhere Official Website) Google Threatens to Disable Search Engine if Australia Forces Them to Pay Local Publishers for News Despite 94% of Searches Made on Platform

Google is now threatening to disable its popular search engine over in Australia if the company is forced to pay the local publishers for the news in a dramatic escalation with the government. The dispute could have a huge impact on how Australians search for information online.

According to the story by Bloomberg, this proposed law now is intended to compensate the publishers for the main value of their own stories and what it generates for the company. However, according to the managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Mel Silva, it is unworkable. This is what she told the parliamentary hearing that took place on Friday. She also specifically opposed requiring Google to pay the media companies for certain snippets of articles within search results.

The threat is now known as most potent to Google as the digital giant still tries to stem a flow of regulatory action all across the world. It was stated that at least 94% of all online searches in Australia are made through Alphabet Inc unit, Google, according to the local competition regulator.

Facebook also strong about its opposition to this law

According to the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, "we don't respond to threats." It was also stated that Australia makes its own rules for certain things that they can do in Australia. That is supposedly done in their parliament. It is also done by their government. It was then clarified that that is how things work within Australia.

Facebook is the only other company that is also targeted by this particular legislation and it is said to also oppose the law. The social media platform even reiterated at the hearing that took place on Friday that it is even considering blocking Australians from even being able to share certain news on Facebook should this law be pushed through.

Senator accuses company of 'blackmail'

The legislation is supposedly designed in order to support the local media industry. This includes Rupert Murdoch's News Corp that has reportedly been struggling to adapt towards the digital economy. Google's own tougher stance drew certain rebukes coming from lawmakers during the hearing. Andrew Bragg, Senator, even accused the tech giant of even trying to "blackmail" both Australians and policymakers, also reported by The Verge.

Silva gave a statement to the panel of senators saying if this particular version of the code were eventually to become a law, it would then give them no real choice but to completely stop Google Search being available in Australia. She then described this particular law as "untenable" when it comes to the financial and operational precedent.

The California-based Google, Mountain View, on Thursday tried to reach a deal along with the French media publishers after the official country's competition authority and urged it to pay for certain content. It had then stopped showing news results that came from European publishers on their search results for the french users last year. This was to comply with the copyright laws.

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Written by Urian Buenconsejo