New Zealand to pay Google and Meta Media | World | T.W.

The New Zealand government is following in the footsteps of countries like Australia and Canada by proposing a bill that would force big tech platforms like Google and Meta (Facebook) to pay media companies to publish and share their news content.

“It’s not fair that big digital platforms like Google and Meta offer and share local news for free. It’s expensive to produce news and it’s fair that they pay,” New Zealand Media and Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson said in a statement. the previous day.

Jackson said that if the law is eventually approved, at least 30 million local dollars (19.3 million US dollars or 18.25 million euros) will be pumped into the local market.

With the proposal, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government wants to address the disparity in bargaining power between a Labor party, big tech and big media to agree to voluntarily pay for pro-news content.

“Although some voluntary agreements have been reached, smaller regional, Maori and Pacific media and ethnic media are likely to leave, so it’s a level playing field for everyone,” Jackson said in the release.

“High Quality Contracts”

Therefore, the bill also contemplates allowing local media, including small regional and community newspapers, to form partnerships without first needing approval from the Commerce Commission to negotiate “premium deals” with large digital platforms.

Therefore, there will be a period of three to six months to engage in voluntary negotiations before the law is applied to digital platforms.

According to Jackson, the hit to media revenues — as ad investments take hold on digital platforms — affects the quality of local content, the ability to make news and the job stability of journalists. It’s critical that people who benefit from their news content pay for it.”

New Zealand’s proposed law is inspired by a pioneering Australian law that came into effect last year, and initiatives by Canada and the United Kingdom and the European Union, which may introduce similar measures in their jurisdictions in the future.

New Zealand’s neighbor Australia introduced a law on March 3, 2021 that would require big digital platforms like Google and Facebook to pay with local media, a move hailed as a “success” by Canberra’s executive. It has allowed it to reach “over 30 commercial deals” since then.

mg (efe, Reuters)