The Australian government made a big push to make Google and Facebook pay Australian news sites for links to content on their platforms. Google made a number o

The Australian government made a big push to make Google and Facebook pay Australian news sites for links to content on their platforms. Google made a number of moves to head that off, including pumping money into local initiatives and a deal with the local media companies. Not fighting back hard against the current social conservative government's moves on censorship and cracking down on online rights is consistent with Google's other moves to protect profits and avoid paying media companies for links.