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US politics live: US tech giants rally against Australia over social media regulations

US tech giants are now pushing the Trump administration to pick a fight with Canberra over an Australian policy they believe is hurting the bottom line.

Donald Trump has effectively shut down the Department of Education as the White House takes a chainsaw to the federal bureaucracy.

Meanwhile, a senior French minister has claimed a scientist was declined entry to the US simply because criticism of Mr Trump was found on his phone.

In recent weeks there have been multiple stories of foreigners being detained at the US border and deported for seemingly minor visa infractions. But, if correct, this would be the first time border officials have denied entry based on opinions about Mr Trump alone.

Tech giants rally against Australia

America’s tech giants are now pushing the Trump administration to pick a fight with Canberra over Australia’s efforts to regulate digital platforms, marking a possible new front in the White House’s increasingly broad trade agenda.

Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos, once on frostier terms with the White House, have since moved closer — both politically and financially — with their companies donating millions to Trump’s inauguration fund and aligning their platforms with key administration policies. All three were given front-row seats at January’s ceremony.

Now, it appears they are moving to influence policy around the globe with Mr Trump as an ally.

The Computer and Communications Industry Association — a Washington-based lobby group that counts Meta, Google, Amazon, Apple and X among its members — has filed a formal complaint to the Office of the US Trade Representative. The Albanese government’s incoming News Bargaining Incentive, which would require large social media and search platforms to strike commercial deals with news outlets, is consequently being put through the ringer.

The CCIA’s submission argues the policy amounts to a “coercive and discriminatory tax that requires US technology companies to subsidise Australian media companies.”

It claims the law unfairly targets American firms, estimating Meta and Google already pay around AU$250 million annually under the threat of regulation — a figure expected to grow under the new scheme.

The group also takes aim at a separate set of rules being considered by the federal government, which would introduce local content quotas for streaming services like Netflix.

The idea, floated more than two years ago, would see platforms required to invest in Australian content, similar to rules that already apply to local broadcasters. While the policy appears to have stalled, the CCIA isn’t taking any chances, warning the mandate could “put this revenue at risk.”

Although the association stops short of recommending tariffs, it does suggest that retaliatory measures might be justified.

“Imposing targeted, reciprocal measures, while on occasion necessary as a negotiating tool, invariably incurs costs and unintended consequences,” the submission reads. “The overriding goal should not be restrictions on the foreign products or services, but, rather, removal of the barriers.”

The CCIA’s complaint feeds into the Trump administration’s ongoing review of US trade policy, which is due to conclude in early April.

While the White House has yet to reveal which countries will be targeted in the next round of “reciprocal tariffs,” the CCIA’s submission adds pressure at a delicate moment in the Australia–US trade relationship.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the push from American tech firms was predictable. “I’m obviously not privy to the conversations that they have with President Trump from time to time,” he told Sky News. “It’s self-evident they’re very close with the US administration. Our focus and our job is to make our case in the US as we have been doing.”

Those ties have become more visible in recent months. Elon Musk, now leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has emerged as a key figure in the president’s inner circle.

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