SYDNEY - Tech giant Meta on June 4 attacked Australia’s “grossly unfair” bid to make social media companies pay for news, saying it is vehemently opposed to the draft laws.

Traditional media companies around the world are in a battle 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.

“Our position is clear: This law is poorly designed, grossly unfair, and will fail to deliver a diverse and sustainable news industry,” said Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

“We are vehemently opposed to this legislation.

“It is discriminatory, economically incoherent, and will not deliver the sustainable news sector that Australian journalists and audiences deserve.”

The laws specifically target Meta, Google and TikTok.

Those companies will first be given a chance to strike content deals directly with local news publishers.

If they refuse, they faced a compulsory levy that amounted to 2.25 per cent of their Australian revenue.

The three firms were singled out based on a combination of their Australian revenues and large numbers of domestic users.

“It is a discriminatory tax, applied only to a handful of foreign companies,” Meta said.

“Call it what it is: a discriminatory, retroactive tax targeting a handful of foreign companies while competitors offering comparable services face no equivalent obligation.”

The draft laws, unveiled earlier this year, aimed...