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Illustration of the New Zealand flag (AFP)
Besides Canada, the New Zealand government recently said it would force digital companies such as Google and Meta to pay local media when they share their news on its platform.
The statement was made personally by Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson in early December 2022.
The law would mimic similar rules in Australia and Canada and incentivize digital platforms to enter into high-quality voluntary agreements with local media.
Quoting a press release from the official New Zealand government website Beehive.govt.nz, Thursday (19/1/2023), the UK and the European Union are also keen to introduce a similar rule.
“It’s not fair for big digital platforms like Google and Meta (Facebook’s parent company) to host and share local information for free,” Jackson said.
According to him, there are fees to produce the news, which is fair if the platforms pay.
Jackson further added that New Zealand’s news media, particularly regional and community newspapers, were struggling to remain financially viable as more and more advertisements ran online.
“So it’s very important that those who benefit from their news content actually pay,” Jackson said.
Jackson also explained that declining media revenues are impacting news creation, with a significant reduction in the number of journalists in New Zealand and a reduction in the production of local news content.
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