The biggest takeaway lesson for digital regulation this year is that the tech giants won’t come to negotiating tables on their own, and certainly won’t play good corporate citizens without a bit of a fight. The Albanese government’s new moves on news bargaining is a welcome sign the government is willing to try all the options available in a bitter fight that has dominated policy debates and caught the attention of democracies worldwide.

The bad blood between Meta and the news publishers, marinating since the company walked back on their deal in March, has sparked a parliamentary inquiry and a rich, year-long policy discussion on the unbalanced power dynamics between Australia and large digital platforms.

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