What you need to know
- Microsoft President Brad Smith will reportedly testify at the upcoming House antitrust subcommittee hearing.
- The hearing will discuss large tech antitrust laws in relation to the news and media.
- Brad Smith and Microsoft have endorsed certain antitrust laws in Australia and elsewhere.
Australia recently passed legislation that requires Google and Facebook to pay for local news content. That law will be looked at by the House while considering potential proposals for the U.S.
Both Smith and Microsoft as a company endorsed Australia's media law. That law requires Facebook and Google to pay media outlets for local news content used on the company's respective platforms.
Microsoft and Smith's support of the media law and call for similar laws to be adopted by the U.S. come as a stark contrast to the reactions of Google and Facebook.
Google and Facebook fought against Australia's proposal while it was being debated. Facebook pulled news content from Facebook in Australia, and Google threatened to take its search business out of the country. It's not clear if the tech giants would be as aggressive in response to similar legislation in the U.S.
Microsoft isn't subject to the legislation in Australia, though it states that it would agree to be if designated. It's likely that Microsoft would take a similar approach to any similar legislation passed in the U.S., though that could depend on the exact nature of the legislation.
