Media Bargaining Code debated in the Senate

UPDATE 1130 on 25 Feb:: The legislation has been passed by both houses and will now come into force.

Australia’s media bargaining code is being debated now in the Senate as it progresses to the final stages of legislation.

If it passes all stages of debate in both houses, the legislation will create a ground breaking international legislative precedent.

The Media Bargaining Code, which has passed its third reading stage in the House of Representatives and is now before the Senate, has brought Google to the table to negotiate deals with Channel 7, Nine Entertainment and News Limited, while Facebook, on the other hand, blocked all Australian news content on its platform, but appears to have rethought its strategy today as the debate takes place and has signalled it may reverse its policy.

As the Media Bargaining Code issue heats up, a group of ABC Alumni have warned of the potential risk to the national broadcaster’s independence if it receives money directly from digital media companies, but the ABC says that will not happen. See our earlier report.

Victorian Liberal Senator Jane Hume presented the legislation to the Senate and addressed various proposed amendments, which were eventually voted down.

Minister Hume said the legislation is “a world first code to address the imbalance between digital platforms and media.” Addressing a proposed amendment to exclude the ABC from the code, Senator Hume said “the government does not support those amendments,” but confirmed that “these will not lead to reductions in ABC funding.”

You can hear her comments below.


 

The legislation passed the Senate on Wednesday 24 February and went back to the House of Representatives to consider the Senate Amendments.

 

 

 

 

 


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