Australia versus Google | The Spectator Australia

The out-going Trump administration finally woke up to a nasty little rort that the Australian government was planning on running against United States tech giants operating in Australia.

On Monday, The Australian reported that US trade officials had written to the Senate and ‘respectfully requested’ that Australia abandon plans to introduce a de facto (albeit unconstitutional) tax on Facebook and Google.

This tax – cynically described as a payment for news – is to be a payment from Facebook and Google to Australian media when those social media direct viewers to Australian media content. If that sounds crazy to you, that is because it is crazy. If anything, Australian media should be paying the tech giants a finders…