SYDNEY — New Zealand's conservative coalition government will proceed with a Bill that would make it compulsory for digital technology platforms to pay media companies for news, it said on July 2.

The Bill is being introduced as New Zealand media companies struggle against technology companies for advertising dollars, leading them to find new ways to provide news programming.

The Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, introduced in 2023 by the previous Labour government, will be presented in Parliament with amendments to support "our local media companies to earn revenue for the news they produce", Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said.

The proposed changes would align it more closely with Australia's digital bargaining law, Goldsmith said.

That law, which took effect in Australia in March 2021, gives the government power to force internet firms such as Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Alphabett's Google to negotiate content supply deals with media outlets, if the parties fail to reach an agreement on payments.

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