Australia passes law to levy tech giants that fail to pay for local news

SYDNEY, Aug 20 : Australia passed legislation on Thursday that will force tech giants to pay millions of dollars in levies if they fail to strike commercial deals with local media outlets for news on their platforms.The News Bargaining Incentive taxes the companies 2.5 per cent on their advertising revenues unless they strike agreements.Proceeds from the scheme would be directed to local Australian news outlets, whose content helps drive user engagement and advertising revenue on the tech firms' platforms. The levy applies to Meta, Alphabet's Google, TikTok and Microsoft's LinkedIn, covering companies with a "significant" social media or ​search service in Australia, and local advertising revenue exceeding A$250 million ($178 million). Platforms can avoid the charge by reaching agreements