Government mulls Australian plan to make big tech like Google and Facebook pay for journalism

Monday, 20 April 2020

The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern response to a question about the NZME and STUFF merger.

New Zealand is looking to mimic an Australian scheme to make large tech companies like Google and Facebook pay for journalism.

The Australian scheme is set to be announced by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg this morning. It will take the form of a mandatory code that will force giants like Google and Facebook to pay for content shared and hosted on their platforms.

A spokesman for Commerce and Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi said that using a similar scheme here 'has been raised and it has been looked at'.

The giants are currently able to make money by selling ads alongside news content, which has angered media companies.

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Traditional media companies don't just produce much of the content hosted on social media, they've also seen their own revenues plummet as tech giants soak up larger and larger shares of the market.

The Government is currently looking at a series of media rescue packages. The first, a short-term package, will be announced shortly.

This is meant to address the short-term crisis brought on by the impact of Covid-19 on advertising revenue.

A longer-term package is meant to address some of the bigger structural issues in the media industry.

Faafoi's spokesman said the Australian solution was being looked at 'both for short term and long term'.

'This is probably more of the longer-term approach.

'But it is fair to say that it is part of what's being discussed as part of a range of options,' he said.

The Australian scheme has materialised after the Government there halted work on a voluntary code and instead asked the ACCC, the equivalent of the Commerce Commission, to work on a mandatory code.

'It's only fair that those that generate content get paid for it,' Frydenberg said ahead of the formal announcement.

The code will force the giants to pay for content, and give the regulator stronger enforcement powers including penalties and sanctions.

The move follows the European Union which has given publishers a right to demand fees for content and the French competition authority told Google earlier this month to negotiate in good faith with publishers.

Some moves towards a similar scheme have been frustrated by delays over the roll out of digital services taxes, which have been frustrated by negotiations between OECD nations.