StrypeyAug 25, 2023

"Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson has quietly tabled a long-awaited bill aimed at shoring up dwindling media company revenues by forcing tech firms to pay for news content that appears on their sites."

#MarcDaalder, 2023

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pro/bill-tabled-to-make-meta-and-google-negotiate-with-news-outlets

I don't support this typically timid, piecemeal, Labour party policy. It leaves the online ad oligopoly unaffected, but just forces it to share a sliver of its ill-gotten gains. @pluralistic nailed it here:

https://craphound.com/news/2022/04/17/big-tech-isnt-stealing-news-publishers-content/

@dn

Bill tabled to make Meta and Google negotiate with news outlets

New legislation requiring tech platforms to bargain with news publishers is different from Canada's law, but an expert says Meta may still bar access to news on its apps in New Zealand

Newsroom
Show threadStrypey

"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has in recent days fiercely criticised Meta for barring access to critical safety information about a spate of wildfires, which is being disseminated by news companies.

...Meta has told Canadian news outlets that users can still access safety messages from government agencies and emergency services."

#MarcDaalder, 2023

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/pro/bill-tabled-to-make-meta-and-google-negotiate-with-news-outlets

#NewsMedia #DataFarmers

Bill tabled to make Meta and Google negotiate with news outlets

New legislation requiring tech platforms to bargain with news publishers is different from Canada's law, but an expert says Meta may still bar access to news on its apps in New Zealand

Newsroom
Aug 25, 2023 at 1:24amWeb
Show threadStrypeyAug 25, 2023

Much as it pains me to seem like I'm agreeing with Meta, Trudeau is wrong. You can't outsource public broadcasting functions to capitalist-owned corporations and then complain when they behave like... capitalist-owned corporations.

The only sensible solution to this problem is to build out infrastructure for online public broadcasting, and encourage the public to go there for official public communications. Not to corporate-run DataFarms.

Show thread: j@fabrica:~/src;  Aug 25, 2023
@strypey I hear you, but this is exactly what US has done with TV broadcasters, phone companies and train companies. Sure, we regulate them badly, but we have enshrined that their public-broadcaster or common-carrier status has obligations to society.
Show threadStrypeyAug 25, 2023

@josephholsten
> we have enshrined that their public-broadcaster or common-carrier status has obligations to society

Hmm. Fair point, but see:

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/110948546049867183

Strypey (@[email protected])

@[email protected] > you actually can I guess, but it's a bit like complaining that water is wet. > then you can put regulations on them. Sure, but any sensible regulation of the DataFarms would regulate their whole business model out of existence. See the link to Doctorow's piece on regulating the online ad market: https://craphound.com/news/2022/04/17/big-tech-isnt-stealing-news-publishers-content/ There's no need to rely on them as intermediaries for urgent govt communications to the public, and therefore no sensible reason to do so.

Mastodon - NZOSS
Show threadBob JonkmanAug 25, 2023

@strypey

As much as it pains me, I agree with Meta's position on #BillC18 too.

The government is trying to force Meta to provide a service, and then make Meta pay for providing that service.

If the government wants to distribute news that badly, it can fund the national broadcaster, the CBC.