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Australia Passes Law to Charge Tech Giants That Fail to Pay for Local News

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Australia has passed new legislation that will require major technology companies to pay a 2.5% levy on local advertising revenue if they fail to reach commercial agreements with Australian news publishers.

The News Bargaining Incentive applies to companies including Meta, Google, TikTok and Microsoft’s LinkedIn if they operate significant social media or search services in Australia and generate more than A$250 million ($178 million) in local advertising revenue.

Platforms can avoid the levy by signing qualifying agreements with at least eight publishers before the end of their financial reporting period. Payments to news organizations will be credited against the levy, with stronger incentives for deals involving smaller and medium-sized publishers.

Spending with large publishers will receive a 150% offset, while agreements with smaller outlets will receive a 200% offset. The rules are designed to encourage technology platforms to financially support journalism while still allowing companies to negotiate commercial arrangements directly.

Revenue collected through the levy will be directed toward Australian news organizations, reflecting the government’s view that media content contributes significantly to engagement and advertising revenue on major digital platforms.

The legislation strengthens Australia’s broader effort to rebalance the relationship between technology companies and traditional media businesses as news publishers struggle with declining advertising income and increased competition from digital platforms.

TikTok Faces EU Charges Over Child Safety and Privacy Under Digital Services Act

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TikTok is facing fresh regulatory scrutiny in Europe after the European Commission issued preliminary findings alleging that the platform’s design may not provide adequate protections for children under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The regulator argues that certain account settings and platform features could leave younger users more vulnerable to cyberbullying, unwanted contact, and online predators, marking the latest enforcement action against the ByteDance-owned social media platform.

According to the Commission, TikTok currently allows minors to create public accounts that make their content visible to a wider audience, increasing potential exposure to harmful interactions. Regulators also raised concerns that even private accounts may remain discoverable through follower and following lists, allowing children to be identified by users who may not even have TikTok accounts.

European officials say platforms should implement privacy-by-default protections for minors, ensuring that children’s content is only accessible to approved followers unless users actively choose otherwise after reaching an appropriate age.

The case represents the fourth major investigation involving TikTok under the Digital Services Act in the past two years, highlighting the European Union’s increasingly aggressive approach toward enforcing online safety standards for large technology platforms.

TikTok has stated that it will review the Commission’s findings and continue cooperating with regulators. The company emphasized that it already provides extensive protections for teenage users, including more than 50 built-in privacy and safety features.

Among those measures, TikTok noted that accounts belonging to users under 18 are private by default, while younger teenagers cannot use direct messaging or have their content recommended through the platform’s “For You” feed.

Despite those safeguards, European regulators argue that stronger default protections are required under the Digital Services Act, which obligates very large online platforms to proactively identify and reduce risks affecting vulnerable users, particularly children.

If the preliminary findings are confirmed following TikTok’s response, the company could face financial penalties of up to 6% of its global annual revenue, making the investigation one of the most significant regulatory challenges for the platform in Europe.

The case also reflects a broader international trend toward stricter oversight of social media companies. Governments worldwide are introducing regulations that require platforms to demonstrate stronger child safety protections, enhanced privacy controls, and greater accountability for algorithmic recommendations and online content.

As digital services become increasingly central to young people’s daily lives, regulators are shifting their focus beyond content moderation toward platform design itself, requiring technology companies to embed safety protections directly into the user experience rather than relying solely on optional settings.

TikTok Can Keep EU-China Data Transfers During Appeal

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TikTok will be allowed to continue transferring user data from the European Union to China while it appeals a major Irish privacy ruling, after Ireland’s Supreme Court confirmed a temporary suspension of the transfer ban.

The case stems from a 530 million euro fine imposed in May by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, TikTok’s lead privacy regulator in the EU. Regulators argued TikTok failed to guarantee that EU user data remotely accessed by staff in China received privacy protections equivalent to European standards. The order required TikTok to suspend those transfers unless compliance issues were resolved within six months.

However, Ireland’s High Court previously paused enforcement of the transfer ban, ruling that immediate suspension could cause severe and difficult-to-measure business damage to TikTok, while consumer risk during the appeal period appeared limited. The Supreme Court has now upheld that temporary pause until the High Court delivers its final judgment.

TikTok maintains it has never provided European user data to Chinese authorities and says regulators did not fully account for security systems introduced in 2023, including independent oversight of remote data access.

The ruling is significant because it temporarily preserves TikTok’s operational flexibility in Europe while broader questions remain over cross-border data governance, Chinese access concerns, and GDPR-level privacy protections.

The final outcome of the appeal could shape not only TikTok’s future in Europe but also wider standards for how global technology firms manage international data flows under EU privacy law.