'Terrible precedent' - Expert concerns about Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill

Requiring tech companies to pay news organisation is not the right way forward, a media lecturer and campaigner says.

The government announced on Tuesday it would press ahead with an amended Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill which will force tech giants to pay news organisations for their content.

Opposition parties have all voiced in-principle support for the bill. But coalition partner ACT was expected to invoke the 'agree to disagree' provision from its coalition agreement.

Better Public Media's Peter Thompson told Morning Report there was no guarantee the money paid would be put towards the kind of public media content the country needed.

"There's no guarantee that they'll spend in on the sorts of journalism that we currently lack."

It was also "complicated" to figure out how much the news organisations and technology companies each benefited, he said.

The suggestion the Minister would be deciding which tech companies should pay, meant the whole situation could turn into a "lobbyist charter".

"There's also no guarantee that Meta and Google will not actually go ahead with their threats to actually walk away and block news content, as they've done in other countries."

Following the Australian law was "terrible precedent", Thompson said.

"Everyone that understands the model thinks the Australian model is nonsense apart from the Rupert Murdochs who have benefited from it."

Thompson said a 3 percent levy on digital advertising was a better option.

Trans-Tasman consistency needed

Communications and Media Minister Paul Goldsmith told Morning Report it was "useful" to have consistency with Australia.

"I wanted to align our approach more closely with the Australian approach."

"We're expecting businesses to negotiate between themselves and the whole point of this legislation is to provide a backstop of those discussions aren't happening and there's a very compelling reason that they should."

Goldsmith said it had worked well in Australia has far as Google was concerned, though he admitted not so well for Meta.

"Look around the world it's a mixed approach .. don't think anybody's suggesting that this is an easy area and that it's sort of a slam dunk either way, it's quite a complicated area."

A levy on digital advertising was being considered as part of a broader discussion around international tax, Goldsmith said.

'The small players want this'

Despite failings overseas with attempts to make tech giants pay for news content, Labour's broadcasting and media spokesperson Willie Jackson said the local industry wanted it here.

Jackson told Morning Report he was the current government had picked up legislation started under his watch.

Though he was concerned about planned changes to include ministerial involvement.

He said "that's a worry with this we have to talk through" before confirming support, given Labour's opposition to ministerial oversight under the Fast Track legislation.

But a move in this direction was needed, Jackson said.

"I'm glad the government has heard the cries of an industry that is collapsing on its knees... this is not just about Stuff, NZME, RNZ, it's about Ashburton Guardian, it's about the Gisborne Herald, it's about the Westport News, the small players want this.

"Half of our journalist entities have been wiped out because of what's happening in media."

There was hope Meta and Google would act in good faith in New Zealand, he said.

"We can't just operate and not do things because these people have acted unethically in Canada."