The Australian competition watchdog on Monday accused Google of providing "misinformation" about a proposed law that would make the search giant pay media companies for news content. The answer comes after Google released an open letter saying a new regulation will "affect Australians' use of Google search and YouTube".
"A bill, the News Media Bargaining Code, would force us to give you a dramatically worse Google search, and YouTube could result in your data being shared with major news companies and compromise the free services you use Australia, "wrote Google CEO Mel Silva in an open letter on Monday. The search giant also has a message on its Australian homepage stating "the way Aussies use Google is at risk" referring to the open letter.
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The Australian Competition and Consumers Commission pushed back, however, saying Google doesn't have to charge for using its free services or share additional user data with news companies.
"Google does not have to charge Australians for using its free services like Google Search and YouTube unless it chooses to," the ACCC wrote in its response. "The draft code enables Australian news companies to negotiate fair pay for their journalists' work, which is included in Google's services."
Australia announced a draft of the News Media Bargaining Code last month. The regulation would oblige digital platforms, initially Google and Facebook, to negotiate with media companies and pay for news content that appears on their services. The bill also states that Google must notify media companies of changes to its algorithms that could affect things like referral traffic or search rankings.
The ACCC said consultation on the bill would take place by August 28, with the code finalized "shortly thereafter."
Google didn't immediately respond to a request for additional comments.
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