The New Zealand legislative proposal is inspired by pioneering Australian legislation that seeks to regulate the digital platform market.
Courtesy | Digital platforms can negotiate to receive press releases
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 is not fair for big digital platforms like Google and Meta to provide and share local news for free. The costs of news production and what they pay are fair,” New Zealand Media and Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson said in a statement earlier in the 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, a Labor party, wants to address the disparity in bargaining power in the maritime nation to voluntarily pay for news content that favors big tech and big media.
“Although some voluntary agreements are reached, smaller regional, Maori and Pacific media and ethnic media are also likely to leave, so it’s a level playing field for all,” Jackson said in the release.
Thus, 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 “high-quality 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 took effect last year, as well as initiatives by Canada and the United Kingdom and the European Union.
New Zealand’s neighbor, Australia, introduced a law on March 3, 2021 that has allowed “more than 30 trade deals” to be reached since then.
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