Nine Entertainment (ASX:NEC) shares fell nearly 1% in recent Tuesday trade after the Australian government opened a consultation on draft legislation to establish a News Bargaining Incentive, a policy framework designed to force major digital platforms like Meta, Google, and TikTok to pay for Australian news content.

Nine Entertainment is the publisher of The Australian Financial Review and has a current commercial agreement with Google, according to an AFR report.

In a Tuesday statement announcing the consultation, the government said it encourages digital platforms to enter commercial deals with news publishers "as the preferred model." However, platforms who decide not to do so will be required to pay a charge as a proportion of their revenue, with the collected levies distributed back into the news media sector.

The initiative, which comes after Meta said it would not renew its commercial deals, proposes a 2.25% tax on the revenue of tech companies that do not negotiate agreements, AFR reported.

Submissions on the government's consultation close on May 18.