Mayor says: “force Google and Facebook to contribute”
April 20, 2020
By NZB3
We have some fun times reading Neil Holdom (New Plymouth District Mayor) thought pieces on Facebook. Ironically, he’s sharing a NZ Herald news item on Facebook while decrying Facebook’s right to facilitate this sharing of ideas. Apparently Neil wants The State to force you to keep such news items to yourself and not share it unless you’ve paid some kind of News Sharing Fee to Government? But he did it anyway and this is the news Neil shared…
“Social media giants Facebook and Google will be forced to pay Australian media companies for sharing their content..”
“The federal Government has instructed competition watchdog, the ACCC, to develop a mandatory code of conduct…”- Australia to force technology giants Facebook and Google to pay for news content– NZ Herald
Does Holdom really want to make us PAY for the privilege of sharing news the way he just did?
Like, if I learn some fact in the paper I’m not allowed to tell my family and friends? Not unless I pay for that privilege…to who, the government? I have to tell my wife to go buy her own paper if she wants to know what I know? If I search and find a link to something of interest I’m not allowed to share it without paying a fee? Instead, I have to tell others to conduct their own search?
“I totally support law reform to force Google and Facebook to contribute towards the cost of the journalism they publish on their platforms and derive revenue from, it is only fair.”- His Worship, Neil Holdem
Google and Facebook already contribute greatly to journalism by assisting consumers in accessing it. They’ve gotten so good at it that content creators actually pay Facebook and Google to feature them! Instead of checking NZ Herald to see if there’s something interesting going on you can just Google Search by keyword of what you’re actually interested in. You can even program Google Alerts to….why am I explaining all this to you anyway? Don’t the Australian Federal Government and New Plymouth District know how the internet works?
Content creators love having their material shared. They want to be on search engines and advertise to them and would cry their eyes out if they were not top-hit on Google or going viral on Facebook. They like traffic being driven toward them. They want the eyes on them. They want searchers to find them and sharers to share them! Google and Facebook provide that service for free and all the content creator needs to do is publish things people want to share.
Search facilitators and sharing channels on the internet are just like movie or restaurant reviewers. They provide the service of helping customers find what they’re looking for. They are guides to help light the way to the benefit of businesses and consumers who search.
So if the consumers love having search engines and sharing platforms and the producers love free advertising and streams of eyes directed their way who is this ‘force them to contribute’ edict for exactly?
It’s really about the Australian Minister of Finance trying to pick the pockets of Google, Facebook, and etc. to line his own treasury. It’s a kleptocratic state at work trying to get in on the action of other people’s commerce. How low do you need to be to be cheering for that being done to Australians from a sea away?
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Note: Ordering the ACCC to develop a mandatory code of conduct is simply posturing anyway, something to titillate Statist Mayors and the like. Empty gestures like this cost politicians nothing. It’s like throwing a stick for your dog to bring back in order to show an audience you’re in charge of things. Like the dog, the ACCC will expend a little effort and enjoy the exercise but nothing will be productivity will result!
Image ref. Australia’s Federal Political Staff, Frydenberg and Morrison; MSN.com
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