New Zealand wants to pay Google and Facebook to the media, too

On Wednesday, New Zealand asked Google and Facebook to sign agreements with media in the archipelago similar to the one recently reached in Australia.

New Zealand Minister of Information, Chris Favoy, said he is considering adopting regulations to compel tech giants to pay news publishers for their content. A measure intended to help the media sector in great difficulty.

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Negotiating agreements rather than binding regulations

Nevertheless, the minister said he would rather make the agreements – within the framework of negotiations between the country’s press groups and the American giants – rather than adopt binding regulations.

“Last week, I met (representatives) from Google and Facebook,” He pointed before a parliamentary committee.

“I am convinced that the commercial discussions taking place between traditional media and digital platforms will also start in New Zealand and I encourage them.”

In Australia, a long standoff with Google and Facebook

Last week, the Australian Parliament passed a law aimed at compelling digital groups to pay newspaper publishers in the country for their news content. These makers are accused of generating a large portion of advertising revenue and using their content without financial compensation.

Facebook and Google have succeeded in relaxing some of the provisions of this law. Thus, the agreements are more likely to be the result of negotiation than being imposed by a regulatory authority.

The law was issued after prof Long railing arm With tech giants, and through it Facebook showed its strength by blocking links to news articles and media pages nationwide for a few days.

The New Zealand government is keen on negotiations between the media and Gafa

Mr. Favoy indicated that the regulations to be decided by the government will depend on the progress of the discussions “Between media platforms and companies.”

He pointed out that the New Zealand media is facing a serious financial crisis, as the Covid-19 pandemic stressed the importance of its work.

“The role of the media in all stages of the epidemic has been the key to successful business in New Zealand.”, Did he declare.

“As a minister, I am committed to supporting the sector … and making the necessary changes to make it stronger and more sustainable in the future.”