Google said on Friday it would stop linking to New Zealand news articles and scrap contracts it has with local news organizations if the country’s government pushes ahead with a law that would force tech giants to pay a fair price for content that appears on their feeds.
The New Zealand government confirmed in July that it would advance legislation introduced by the previous Labor-led government to ensure a fair sharing of revenue between digital platform operators and media entities. The proposed legislation is still under review and is likely to undergo changes, including some to bring it more in line with Australian legislation.
Caroline Rainsford, Google’s New Zealand director, said in a blog post that if the bill as it stands becomes law, Google will be forced to make significant changes to its products and investments.
“We would be forced to stop linking to news content on Google Search, Google News or Discover surfaces in New Zealand and end our current commercial agreements and ecosystem support with New Zealand news publishers,” Rainsford said.
Google, which is owned by Alphabet, is concerned that the bill runs counter to the idea of an open Internet, that it will hurt small publishers and that unlimited financial exposure creates business uncertainty.
New Zealand’s Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said he was considering a range of views in the sector.
“We are still in the consultation phase and will make an announcement in due course,” he said in a statement. “My officials and I have met with Google on several occasions to discuss their concerns and will continue to do so.”
Although the ACT minority government’s coalition partner does not support the bill, it is likely to find enough cross-party support to pass once it is finalised.
In 2021, Australia introduced legislation that gave the government the power to force internet companies to negotiate content delivery contracts with media houses. A review published by the Australian government in 2022 found it largely worked.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
