Australia: Implementation of Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021

The Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021 is implemented on 2 March 2021, and it goes into effect as Act 21 of 2021 on 3 March 2021. The Amendment modifies the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 to establish a mandatory bargaining code for news media and digital platforms. In particular, media companies are enabled to trigger the negotiation process with digital platforms on any matter related to the news content made available on a digital platform. The bargaining code settles the rules regarding the bargaining roles of digital platform corporations and registered news business corporations, compulsory arbitration where parties cannot reach an agreement (and the dispute is about pricing), mandatory notification when digital platforms operate changes that may impact news content, non-differentiation rules for digital platforms that bargain with different news businesses.