Microsoft offers to step in if rival Google quits Australia

US technology giant Microsoft offered Wednesday to fill the void if rival Google follows through on a threat to turn off its search engine in Australia over government plans to make it pay for news content.

Microsoft president Brad Smith said in a statement that the company “fully supports” proposed legislation that would force Google and Facebook to compensate media for using their journalism.

Facebook and Google have both threatened to block key services in Australia if the rules, now before parliament, become law in their current form.