Google will stop linking to New Zealand news if the proposed law is passed
Google said Friday it will stop linking to New Zealand news articles and end the agreements it has with local news organizations if the country’s government moves ahead with a law forcing tech giants to pay a fair price for content posted on their feeds appears.
The New Zealand government confirmed in July that it will move forward with legislation introduced by the previous Labor Party-led government that ensures fair revenue sharing between digital platform operators and news media entities. The proposed legislation is still under review and is likely to undergo changes, including some to bring it more into line with Australian law.
Caroline Rainsford, Google New Zealand Country Director, said in a blog post that if the bill as it stands now becomes law, Google would 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 in New Zealand and end our current commercial agreements and ecosystem support with New Zealand news publishers,” Rainsford said.
Google, owned by Alphabet, is concerned that the bill goes against the idea that the Internet should be open, that it will harm small publishers and that the unlimited financial risks create uncertainty for businesses.
New Zealand Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said he was considering the differing views in the sector.
“We are still in the consultation phase and will make announcements in due course,” he said in a statement. “My officials and I have been in contact with Google on a number of occasions to discuss their concerns and will continue to do so.”
Although the minority government’s coalition partner ACT does not support the legislation, it is likely to find enough cross-party support to pass it once it is finalized.
Australia introduced a law in 2021 that gave the government the power to let internet companies negotiate content supply agreements with media outlets. A review published by the Australian government in 2022 found that it largely worked.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
