Google slammed for spreading ‘misinformation’ to counter Australian law mandating it to pay for news

Sydney: US technology giant Google went on the offensive Monday against an Australian plan forcing digital giants to pay for news content, telling users their personal data would be “at risk”.

Australia announced last month that firms such as Google and Facebook would have to pay news media for content, after 18 months of negotiations ended without agreement.

The landmark measures would include fines worth millions of dollars for non-compliance and force transparency around the closely guarded algorithms firms use to rank content.

Google is now fighting a rearguard action to prevent the measures from entering into force—and been accused by Australia of spreading “misinformation” in the process.