Australia’s government proposes taxing major digital platforms—reported to include Meta, Google and TikTok—at roughly a 2% rate or a similar proportion of their revenue to fund journalism. The plan is designed to raise money specifically to support newsrooms and pay for news reporters. Multiple outlets describe the proposal as a levy focused on “digital giants,” targeting platforms that distribute or monetize online content.
NPR reports that the government intends to introduce draft legislation to Australia’s Parliament by July. Daily Sabah also describes the proposal in similar terms, stating that Australia is considering a levy around 2% to finance newsroom operations. While outlets differ slightly in how they describe the tax structure (for example, whether it is framed as about 2% or a revenue-based proportion), both identify the same general mechanism—an ad- and platform-revenue-related charge on large tech firms—and the same stated purpose: funding news media staffing. The coverage agrees that the proposal is at the legislative planning stage.
