{"id":650368,"date":"2026-05-05T03:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650368\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T03:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T03:47:09","slug":"big-tech-wants-to-punish-australia-over-albaneses-media-bargaining-code-and-trump-might-be-inclined-to-listen-bruce-wolpe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/650368\/","title":{"rendered":"Big tech wants to punish Australia over Albanese\u2019s media bargaining code \u2013 and Trump might be inclined to listen | Bruce Wolpe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fallout of the Albanese government\u2019s proposed News Bargaining Incentive<\/a> feels predictable. The tech oligarchs will likely urge Donald Trump to punish Australia for the government\u2019s efforts to protect publishers from the financial harm caused by the big tech platforms\u2019 use of news content from established media companies.<\/p>\n

It is the same playbook used by the big US pharmaceutical companies to fight back against Australia\u2019s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme<\/a> and similar programs in other countries. Australia has so far dodged much of Trump\u2019s tariffs on medicines, but Trumps\u2019 desire to punish US trade partners is unwavering.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s contempt for mainstream media companies in the United States is explosive. In his 2016 presidential campaign, he labelled the major media companies \u201cthe enemy of the people\u201d \u2013 a line right out of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Trump has called any reporting that varies from the lines coming out of his and his press secretary\u2019s mouth as \u201cfake news.\u201d That term has now become for some politicians worldwide the go-to denial of authoritative media reporting.<\/p>\n

We could see Trump\u2019s anger at the media even after the attempt on his life, and that of others, in his extraordinary interview with CBS\u2019 60 Minutes<\/a> the day after the White House Correspondents dinner. After discussing what Trump saw and felt, Norah O\u2019Donnell of CBS quoted from the alleged shooter\u2019s manifesto on why he hated officials who were allegedly involved with Jeffrey Epstein. Trump erupted at O\u2019Donnell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was waiting for you to read that, because I knew you would, because you\u2019re horrible people,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYeah he did write that, I\u2019m not a rapist \u2026 I read the manifesto. You know, he\u2019s a sick person. You shouldn\u2019t be reading that on 60 Minutes, you\u2019re a disgrace, but go ahead, let\u2019s finish the interview.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s anger at mainstream media is palpable. He does not hesitate to attack and intimidate overseas media. Trump has sued the BBC<\/a> for defamation and is seeking $US10bn in damages for its documentary on the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the ABC\u2019s John Lyons asked Trump<\/a> in a media scrum on the South Lawn of the White House about Trump family business deals and finances. \u201cWhere are you from?\u201d Trump asked. Lyons said, the ABC. \u201cOh, the Australian \u2013 you\u2019re hurting Australia,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIn my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now, and they want to get along with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s disdain for media is good news for the tech bros as they prepare to kill off the media tax proposals and the payments that are to be made to mainstream Australian media<\/a> companies.<\/p>\n

In discussing why this initiative is so important, Albanese said, \u201cJournalists are the lifeblood of Australia\u2019s media sector, playing a vital role in keeping communities informed about the news that matters to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cLocal news matters to local communities and these stories can\u2019t be told without Australian journalists. My government will always back Australian journalists and Australian news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is exactly what Trump does not do with US media companies.<\/p>\n

In the course of the Iran war, Trump has spoken out at least twice in his \u201cdisappointment\u201d that Australia has not strapped up to support and join with the US in the embargo on Iran that the US has imposed in the Persian Gulf. At a cabinet meeting in March<\/a>, Trump said with respect to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, \u201cAustralia was not great. I was a little surprised by Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump doubled down in April<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not happy with Australia because they were not there when we asked them to be there. They were not there, having to do with Hormuz, the Hormuz strait.\u201d<\/p>\n

This means the door to the Oval Office is wide open for the tech oligarchs to lobby the president on this issue. It will not be a heavy lift.<\/p>\n

The three companies most directly affected by the proposed new media tax are Meta, Google and TikTok. They are deeply invested<\/a> in the Trump presidency. Meta has committed to invest US$600bn in the US in technology and AI for overall infrastructure and workforce expansion. Google has committed $68bn to data centres and AI infrastructure. In the United States, TikTok was restructured, and its algorithm<\/a> is controlled by Oracle, headed by Larry Ellison, who together with his son has acquired Paramount and CBS; TikTok\u2019s CEO met with Trump as the deal for its future was finalised.<\/p>\n

At the White House dinner for the state visit of King Charles, guests included Ruth Porat of Alphabet and Google; Dina Powell McCormick, president and vice chair of Meta; and David Ellison, heir to the Oracle fortune.<\/p>\n

The tech companies lobbying in Washington is exceptionally effective. They will be all over the Senate committee on foreign relations when it holds hearings to confirm David Bart as the new US ambassador to Australia. We can almost hear it now: \u201cMr Bart, where do you stand on the new media tax proposed by the Australian government?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce Wolpe is a non-resident senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre. He is author of two books on Trump and Australia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fallout of the Albanese government\u2019s proposed News Bargaining Incentive feels predictable. The tech oligarchs will likely urge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-650368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}