'A bit more speed:' Social media giants under pressure by the Government to work with media

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi called on social media companies to give NZ media players an idea of when they might be able to expect a commercial arrangement to start. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi is putting pressure on social media giants to speed up their conversations with New Zealand media players about "commercial arrangements".

Speaking to reporters in Wellington this morning, Faafoi reiterated that "we would like some speed in some of those conversations about any commercial arrangements".

He called on social media companies to give New Zealand media players an idea of when they might be able to expect a commercial arrangement to commence.

"I would like to see a bit more speed on that just to give us an indication of what timeframes are there are for those discussions to get some certainly, those media companies."

Asked if regulatory options were still on the table, when it comes to making social media companies pay for using local media content, Faafoi said that was "always an option".

But, for now, he was giving social media players the option to talk to media platforms to work through this issue.

"We will reflect that to the [social media] platforms when we speak to them next, and I'm sure they'll get the feedback from this press conference today."

Faafoi's message is already being welcomed by NZME, which publishes the Herald.

"We believe he has sent a clear message to international social media and search companies to start meaningful discussions with the New Zealand media industry to agree commercial agreements to pay for content produced here in New Zealand," a spokesman said.

"International experience suggests these companies have not been prepared to fully engage until Governments have indicated they are prepared to intervene in the matter."

A spokesman for Facebook said the social media platform has a "successful partnership" with a number of New Zealand publishers.

"We are committed to investing in partnerships that work for publishers and consumers, and take into account the way in which news is shared on our services.

"We've started to engage with New Zealand publishers and we're committed to
progressing these conversations further."

Speaking to MPs at a select committee earlier this month, Faafoi said he was "confident the commercial discussions taking place between traditional media and digital platforms will also begin here in New Zealand".

"They will heavily be influenced by the nature of the actions and discussions between platforms and media companies," he said.

His comments came after the Australian government passed a law designed to force the likes of Google and Facebook to pay news sites for using their content.

The law resulted in a nasty spat between Facebook and the Australian government, which resulted in the social media giant shutting down a number of major news sites' Facebook pages.

But that was reversed after a deal was reached.

Google has already made moves in this space in New Zealand.

Earlier this month, it announced it was launching its news curation service in New Zealand where publications, such as the NZ Herald, will be paid to provide stories.

But details, such as how much Google will be paying news sites to use their stories, are still being kept under wraps by the tech giant.

According to Google, the "News Showcase" scheme aims to "support and pay publishers to curate their journalism".

Users are able to scroll through different sections of the Showcase page and news stories from various publications will appear.

This includes content usually behind a paywall.