Regulator found a power imbalance between media and Google and Facebook 

Australian government wants to pass a new law to force big tech to pay for news 

Google has threatened to leave the Australian market if the code goes ahead

Facebook said it may be forced to stop Australians from seeing news content   

Competition regulator ACCC boss Rod Sims said they may be empty threats 

Google has threatened to remove its search function in Australia and Facebook warned it would pull news content if a new law requiring the tech giants to compensate media organisations is passed. 

The proposed law, introduced to the Australian Parliament in December, will force Facebook and Google to negotiate fees with news companies whose stories appear on their platforms. 

The world-first code states that if a negotiation breaks down then an independent umpire will step in and decide the fee based on a 'final offer' method, which chooses one side's position as the resolution.