Australia being threatened by Google

Google threatens to cancel its search engine in Australia

The US-based technology company Google, on January 22, threatened to cancel its search engine in Australia if the government continued its plans to make all major tech companies pay for news content. Calling it 'the last thing' Google wants to do. Google's Australian Google manager Mel Silva said the proposed news code was unstoppable and would set a "dangerous precedent" for paying for links.

Meanwhile, Facebook has already threatened to remove the news from its site for all Australians if the code compels companies to negotiate media payments going forward.

The decision, which Google reported to the Australian government on January 22, could mean that the 19 million citizens in the country who use the search engine every month would not be able to search. In addition, the 17 million Australians who log on to Facebook every month will also not be able to see any posts with media coverage.

“In an open letter, Silva wrote “The ability to link freely between websites is fundamental to Search. This code creates an unreasonable and unmanageable financial and operational risk to our business. If the Code were to become law in its current form, we would have no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia.”

"That's the last thing I or Google want to do - especially if there's a way forward that allows us to support Australian journalism without breaking the Search. We think that could have a negative impact not only on us, but on the millions of Australian people and businesses who use Google Search every day.” she added.

Both Facebook and Google are fighting legislation before the Australian Parliament and will force digital forums to enter into an agreement with media companies to pay for the content. It is the mediator who finally pays the non-compliance amount.