29/04/2026

WEDNESDAY | APR 29, 2026

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Pay for news or face levy, big tech told SYDNEY: Australia unveiled draft laws yesterday that would tax tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok unless they voluntarily strike deals to pay local outlets for news. o Australia unveils draft laws “Large digital platforms cannot avoid their obligations under the news media bargaining code,” Albanese told reporters. “At this point the three organisations are Meta, Google and TikTok.” The changes aim to close a loophole under a previous media law which allowed organisations to avoid a levy if they removed news from their platforms. Australian users would no longer be able to access the “news” tab. Meta had previously announced it would not renew content deals with news publishers in the United States, Britain, France and Germany. “News organisations voluntarily post content on our platforms because they receive value from doing so,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “The idea that we take their news content is simply wrong.” University of Canberra has found that more than half the country uses social media as a source of news.

Google has similarly threatened to restrict its search engine in Australia if forced to compensate news outlets. Journalism needed to have a “monetary value attached to it”, Albanese said. “It shouldn’t be able to be taken by a large multinational corporation and used to generate profits with no compensation.” Supporters of such laws argue that social media companies attract users with news stories and hoover up online advertising dollars that would otherwise go to struggling newsrooms. Meta said the proposed laws were “nothing more than a digital services tax”.

Traditional media companies are battling for survival as readers increasingly consume their news on social media. Australia wants big tech companies to compensate local publishers for sharing articles that drive traffic on their platforms. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said tech giants Meta, Google and TikTok would be given a chance to strike content deals with local news publishers. If they refused, they faced a compulsory levy that amounted to 2.25% of their Australian revenue, he said.

“People are increasingly getting their news directly from Facebook, from TikTok and Google,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said. “We believe it’s only fair that large digital platforms contribute to the hard work that enriches their feeds and that drives their revenue.” The draft laws were presented for public consultation yesterday, which will close next month. They would then be introduced into parliament later this year. – AFP

The three firms were singled out based on a combination of their Australian revenues and large numbers of domestic users. The draft laws have been designed to stop the tech giants from simply stripping news from their platforms – something Meta and Google have done in the past. “What we are encouraging is for them to sit down with news organisations and get these deals done,” Albanese said. When Canberra mooted similar laws in 2024, Facebook parent Meta announced that

Google, Pentagon sign AI deal

the prosecutorial review commission tomorrow. Hikari has said she was not used to drinking strong alcohol and lost consciousness halfway through an office gathering in 2018. The next thing she knew, she said, she was in Kitagawa’s home and was being raped. Hikari kept quiet after it happened, as Kitagawa had pleaded with her not to go public, saying it would damage the organisation and threatening to harm himself, she said. “It fills me with such bitterness that I, the victim, am forced to resign, while people who commit harassment continue working as if nothing had happened,” she said. “I will keep on pushing for change at the prosecutor’s office so that it will truly serve the public.” – AFP WASHINGTON: Alphabet’s Google joined a growing list of technology firms to sign a deal with the US Department of Defence to use its artificial intelligence models for classified work, The Information reported yesterday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The agreement allows the Pentagon to use Google’s AI for“any lawful government purpose”, the report added, putting it alongside OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI, which also have to supply AI models for classified use. Classified networks are used to handle a wide range of sensitive work, including mission planning and weapons targeting. The Pentagon signed agreements worth up to US$200 million (RM790 million) each with major AI labs last year, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google. The Pentagon is seeking to preserve all flexibility in defence and not be limited by warnings from the technology’s creators against powering weapons with unreliable AI. Google’s agreement requires it to help in adjusting the company’s AI safety settings and filters at the government’s request. The contract includes language noting “the parties agree that the AI System is not intended for, and should not be used for, domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons (including target selection) without appropriate human oversight and control”, according to the report, but also adds that the “agreement does not confer any right to control or veto lawful government operational decision-making”. Reuters could not verify the report. A spokesperson for Google Public Sector, the unit that handles government business, told The Information that the new agreement is an amendment to its existing contract. – Reuters

MISTY RELIEF ... Varanasi residents walk under water sprinklers installed along a street as a heat wave roasts India. – AFPPIC

New Zealand reports North Korea sanctions breaches WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s military said yesterday its spy plane had spotted an at-sea transfer of illicit goods as part of its monitoring of North Korean attempts to evade international sanctions. reported 35 vessels of interest to the United Nations. “The upholding of international law is critically important for regional security and we are proud of our ability to contribute to this important work,” Scott said.

Yellow and East China seas since 2018 as part of multilateral efforts to enforce sanctions. It said it reported vessels suspected of trafficking refined petroleum to North Korea, as well as exports of commodities such as coal, sand and iron ore used by Pyongyang to fund its nuclear weapons programme. China has complained that the New Zealand patrols amount to“disruptive and irresponsible” surveillance in Chinese airspace. Wellington dismissed the complaints. – AFP

Air Commodore Andy Scott said the P-8A Poseidon aircraft had spotted the potential sanctions busting in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. In addition to the “possible ship-to-ship transfer of illicit goods”, New Zealand had

North Korea is subject to UN sanctions banning its nuclear weapons development and use of ballistic missile technology, restrictions it has repeatedly flouted. The New Zealand military has patrolled the

Japanese prosecutor who accused boss of rape to resign TOKYO: A Japanese prosecutor who publicly accused her boss of rape said yesterday she will resign after her office rejected a request for an independent investigation into harassment within the organisation. “So this is a painful decision I have to make to protect my life,” she said, adding that she will submit a resignation letter tomorrow. sexual violence in the past 16 years, according to Hikari. She said people close to Kitagawa, especially an assistant prosecutor, whom Hikari says is his lover, have spread malicious rumours.

Hikari has made a request to the Justice Ministry and the prosecutors’ office that a third party panel be set up to investigate cases involving others in the legal profession, and to implement measures to prevent harassment. She has previously said she was “certain that there are other instances of harassment and additional offences” besides those involving her. But the prosecutors’ office said authorities would “refrain from responding” as Hikari also filed a suit against the state last month, seeking compensation. Public records show that 21 people at prosecutors’ offices have been disciplined for

These included identifying the victim, whose name had not been made public, and claiming she had been attracted to Kitagawa, consented to sex and was sober. Hikari was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and has been seeing a psychiatrist. She filed a criminal complaint against the assistant prosecutor last year, but the Osaka prosecutor’s office dismissed it, only imposing a reprimand. Hikari said she planned to file a petition with

Very few women in Japan speak out about sexual assault but the prosecutor, who uses the pseudonym Hikari, came forward in 2024 to accuse Osaka’s then top prosecutor of raping her six years earlier. Kentaro Kitagawa, who retired after serving as head of the Osaka District Public Prosecutor’s Office, was arrested and admitted the assault but later withdrew his statement, saying the sex was consensual. “I feel it’s hopeless to return to work,” said Hikari, who has been on leave.