Australia unveiled draft laws on Tuesday that will tax tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok unless they voluntarily strike deals to pay local outlets for news.

Traditional media companies the world over are in a battle for survival as readers increasingly consume their news on social media.

Australia wants big tech companies to compensate local publishers for sharing articles that drive traffic on their platforms.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok would be given a chance to strike content deals with local news publishers.

If they refused, they faced a compulsory levy that amounted to 2.25 percent of their Australian revenue, he said.

"Large digital platforms cannot avoid their obligations under the news media bargaining code," Albanese said.

"At this point the three organisations are Meta, Google and TikTok."

The draft laws have been designed to stop the tech giants from simply stripping news from their platforms – something Meta and Google have done overseas in the past.

Supporters of such laws argue that social media companies attract users with news stories and hoover up online advertising dollars that would otherwise go to struggling newsrooms.

Australia's University of Canberra has found that more than half the country uses social media as a source of news. (AFP)



Edited by Tony Sabine