Hhmmm… As Big Tech banned Donald Trump in synchronized fashion and as censorship increases in America following the January 6 storming of Capitol Hill, other countries have been taking measures to ensure Big Tech can’t do similar (like banning the head of state) in their own countries. And in this news update, it appears that there is another contentious issue brewing between Big Tech and the government and news media outlets of Australia, as Sky News Australia reports that Google is ‘holding a gun to our head’ in retaliation for Australia’s media code efforts.
Basically, media outlets see Google profiting enormously by sharing links and data for their content. These news outlets now Wang a slice of the pie. Google doesn’t seem cool with that idea. If Australia gets it’s way, the likelihood of governments and news outlets in the North America, Europe and elsewhere increases.
But even as Google threatened to discontinue its $5B per year (2019) search services in Australia in light of these media code measures being deliberated in the Australian parliament, the Australian Prime Minister was quite blunt and categorical in his response to Google: “We don’t respond to threats.”
I got my popcorn ready. Watching to see how the high stakes showdown turns out.