Minister of Broadcasting Willie Jackson
said in a statement on Sunday that the legislation will be modelled on similar
laws in Australia and Canada and he hoped it would act as an incentive for the
digital platforms to reach deals with local news outlets.
"New Zealand news media, particularly
small regional and community newspapers, are struggling to remain financially
viable as more advertising moves online," Jackson said. "It is
critical that those benefiting from their news content actually pay for it."
The new legislation will go to a vote in
parliament where the governing Labour Party's majority is expected to pass it.
Australia introduced a law in 2021 that
gave the government power to make internet companies negotiate content supply
deals with media outlets. A review released by the Australian government last
week found it largely worked.
The law, which took effect in March 2021
after talks with the big tech firms led to a brief shutdown of Facebook news
feeds in Australia, may need to be extended to other online platforms, the
review said.
Since the News Media Bargaining Code took
effect, the tech firms had inked more than 30 deals with media outlets
compensating them for the content which generated clicks and advertising
dollars, said the Treasury Department report, published last week.
The report mostly recommended that the
government consider new methods of assessing the administration and
effectiveness of the law, and did not suggest changing the law itself.
"At least some of these agreements
have enabled news businesses to, in particular, employ additional journalists
and make other valuable investments to assist their operations," said the
report. "While views on the success or otherwise of the Code will
invariably differ, we consider it is reasonable to conclude that the Code has
been a success to date." © Reuters