Technology giants have become superpowers. They are so powerful and big that governments just do not want to mess with them. Who would want to mess with bodies that can tomorrow morning determine your political future, who wants to mess with bodies that control consciousness? As this important issue was postponed, these gorillas grew stronger and so did the chances of fighting them. But, the truth is that governments must limit the power of Google and Facebook. Control over the media, the consumption of information, the public discourse, the “truth” cannot be in the hands of two companies. It’s economically dangerous and it’s dangerous to humanity.
Another angle of the predatory and forceful of these giants is in front of the news sites. Google and Facebook take content from all news sites and display it on Google News, free of charge, while at the same time attracting advertisers to use their resources (advertising on Google Adsense and Facebook). In the last decade the sites have had to reduce the price of advertising and have experienced a dramatic drop in the volume of advertising. In Israel, for example, the vast majority of digital advertising is through Google and Facebook. This is damage of hundreds of millions to the press.
So all over the world there are casualties and in many cases trying to fight these monopolies, but as mentioned it is not simple. Politicians are quite apprehensive about messing with these bodies. However, something is moving in the world. It started with the understanding that the taxation of these bodies could not be eased. Not only do they steal the revenue of local entities and sites, they will also benefit from tax benefits? So it is slowly starting to change in the world, and at the same time the media bodies are banding together to fight Google and Facebook. In Australia it worked.
This means that you will soon see it in other countries around the world. It will go away and politicians will have no choice but to fight the giants of technology. It will not be fast, but Australia has paved the way – the technology giants are going to weaken. The world cannot tolerate their excessive and excessive power. The truth is that this is the biggest threat to their activities – returning resources taken from the public (like free content) and paying for these resources, will reduce the profits and profitability of the giants. They will have no choice, in order to live alongside the states and alongside the media, they need to give a share of the profits. And yet – these are lucrative and growing entities. Bodies that even if hit, it will not be too strong a blow. You will continue to see these companies grow and profit. Maybe the growth rate will go down. But the trend is clear – our world is becoming more and more digital.
The Australian Parliament has passed the “Google (GOOG) and Facebook (FB)” law which requires internet giants to reach payment agreements with news publishers for the use of their content. The law, which has raised the wrath and apprehension of tech giants, has caught the eyes of regulators around the world and the global news industry, mainly to see what Google and Facebook will do.
The law stipulates that if the tech giants and publishers do not reach an agreement between them for the paid content, an authorized mediator from the Australian government will determine the amount. “The new law will ensure that publishers receive a fair return for their content and will help the public interest in maintaining a free press in Australia,” Australian Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and Finance Minister Josh Friedenberg said in a joint statement.
“We are pleased to see progress both by Google and more recently by Facebook in reaching commercial agreements with Australian journalistic publishing houses,” they added.
Facebook is the biggest loser of any affair
Remember, the new law hit Google and Facebook in a very painful place. Google initially announced that it was considering closing access to its services in Australia, with the platform controlling 95% of the network’s traffic in the country with a population of 25 million. But Google got back at it very quickly from the threat and reached agreements with 2 major publishers, including Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp.
The one who came out the biggest loser in any affair is Facebook. Last week, as a move announcing that “all the extremists have gone out” the world’s largest social network blocked access to all news sites, including access to pages of government services and politicians. The move received a barrage of worldwide criticism, which led Facebook to back down very quickly from the move – which hurt the company’s good name; Like quite a few other affair in which she has been involved recently.
Among other things, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is fighting a highly publicized war against Tim Cook’s Apple, after the latter changed the tracking options it gives to Facebook and transferred power to users. Facebook, whose business model is built on micro-targeting – that is, massive and systematic tracking of users – to match them with appropriate advertisements, rightly saw this as a blow under the belt. From there comes FB’s big money and Apple users are a significant part of these users and they can, literally, block FB’s access to their information.
In addition, FB is also under attack in the U.S., due to its role in attacking the Capitol building last month, when various White Power organizations and several other Messianic organizations banded together, among other things, and planned their plans. , Including former President Donald Trump.