New Media Minister must rule out state intervention in private media

The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“His first move must be to condemn Willie Jackson’s Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill to the scrap heap. This bill would see New Zealanders losing access to news content on social media, as seen in Canada, and would break the underpinning of the internet that it is free to link to other sites.

“If media companies want to stop their content being used on social media platforms, they can already put it behind a paywall. In fact, we know they benefit from the current arrangement as outfits, including RNZ, are actually paying Facebook to advertise links to their content.

“No one would accept government bailouts or screwing the scrum in favour of Video Ezy when Netflix came about, we shouldn’t accept them for private media either. If the Minister wants to make it easier for private media to operate, he should consider privatising the state-owned media companies while they are still worth something to ensure a level playing field where no media is backed by a Government giant."