Google attacks Australian govt, says users could lose access to free search

Google warned on Monday that the Australian government’s plans to make digital giants pay for news content threatens users’ free services in Australia and could hand users’ data to media organisations.
 

The US-based company’s warning, contained in what it called an Open letter to Australians, comes a week before public consultations close on Australian draft laws that would make both Google and Facebook pay for news siphoned from commercial media companies.
 

“A proposed law...would force us to provide you with a dramatically worse Google Search and YouTube, could lead to your data being handed over to big news businesses, and