Australia Hikes Levy to 2.5% on Tech Giants That Avoid News Deals
META is trading near its 52-week low of $520.26 (6.3% above the low).
Summary
Australia raised its News Bargaining Incentive levy to 2.5% of advertising revenue, up from 2.25%, and expanded its scope by removing an exclusion for professional networking sites, now capturing LinkedIn alongside Meta, Google, and TikTok. The tax applies to companies with significant social media or search services and local revenue above A$250 million. The change from taxing total revenue to only advertising revenue partially offsets the rate hike, but the net effect is a higher cost for non-compliant platforms. This follows a series of regulatory pressures on Meta, including EU investigations and a Canadian bill proposing age-based restrictions. The new laws are expected to be introduced when parliament resumes later this month, setting up a near-term legislative catalyst.
At the time of this announcement, META was trading at $553.22 on NASDAQ in the Technology sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.4T. The 52-week trading range was $520.26 to $796.25. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Reuters.