Google said on Friday that it will stop linking to New Zealand news articles and ditch the agreements it has made with local news organizations if the country passes the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, which will force tech companies to pay publishers for content appearing on their feeds.
In a blog post by Google’s New Zealand country director Caroline Rainsford, the company expressed deep concerns over the New Zealand government’s proposed “link tax” regime, which it believes is “fundamentally flawed and would generate unintended consequences and unsustainable models.” If the bill is passed, it would force Google to “make significant changes” to its products and news investments, including stopping links to news content on Google Search, Google News or Discover surfaces in New Zealand and discontinuing its current commercial agreements with local news publishers.
The tech company filed public submissions and has been engaged in ongoing consultation with the government to oppose the bill for potentially leading to unwanted outcomes for New Zealand citizens, media organizations, digital platforms, and the journalism industry. The company is also engaging local publishers in finding a better path forward.
The proposed Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, which is currently still under review, includes a fair revenue sharing scheme between operators of digital platforms and news media entities. In response to Google’s statement, New Zealand Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said on Friday that the bill is now still in the consultation phase, consolidating the opinions of the whole industry, and that announcements will be made in due course.
The local media industry has supported the bill and alleged Google’s threat and practices amount to “corporate bullying.” Public Affairs Director for the News Publishers’ Association (NPA) Andrew Holden said on Friday that the bill is not a tax and Google’s statement is clearly a deliberate misrepresentation of the legislation, which “demonstrates the kind of pressure that it has been applying to the Government and news media companies.” He added, “The NPA agrees, and also believes that the Government of New Zealand should be able to make laws to strengthen democracy in this country without being subjected to this kind of corporate bullying.”
The situation is not unfamiliar to the tech giant. In June 2023, Google threatened to remove Canadian news links from its search engine, news, and discover products in response to Canada’s Online News Act, which similarly put a price on links appearing on Google’s feeds. The case ended with the Canadian federal government and Google entering into an agreement where the tech company agreed to compensate Canadian news publishers CAD 100 million annually instead of completely blocking Canadian content.
