A link to Google’s proposal for a viable news code on the company’s homepage.
David Gray | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Australia’s political opposition will support the proposed legislation that would force Alphabet’s Google and Facebook to pay publishers and broadcasters for the content, two sources informed on the matter said on Tuesday.
The bill, whose prospects are being widely observed around the world, depends on support from the opposition, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s liberal party has no majority in the country’s upper house.
Lawmakers from the Australian center-left Labor Party endorsed the project at a meeting in Canberra on Tuesday, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak to the media about the matter and declined to be identified.
The bill is due to be presented to parliament this week.
Google and Facebook pressured Australia to soften the legislation, with top executives from both companies talking to Morrison and treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Google called for a series of changes, mainly having its new platform, Showcase, covered by legislation, rather than generated search results.
Last month, Reuters said it signed an agreement with Google to be the first global news provider on the Google News Showcase. Reuters is owned by the news and information provider Thomson Reuters Corp.
Google and a lobby group of French publishers agreed in January to a copyright structure for the technology company to pay news publishers for online content, a breakthrough in Europe.