US asks Australia to scrap proposed laws to make Facebook, Google pay for news

The US government has asked Australia to scrap proposed laws that will make it the first country in the world to force Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay for news sourced from local media outlets.

In a submission asking the government to “suspend” the plans, assistant US trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers suggested Australia instead “further study the markets, and if appropriate, develop a voluntary code”...