Now is not the time to draft a news media and digital platform bargaining act (媒體議價法), Minister of Digital Affairs Huang Yen-nun (黃彥男) told lawmakers yesterday, adding that similar proposed legislation could trigger “reciprocal” tariffs from the US.
Huang made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review similar bills proposed by legislators across party lines. The ministry, which is in charge of proposing the government version of the bill, has yet to bring anything to the table, despite having met with large platforms and news media several times in the past two years.
There are two ways to share online advertising revenues from posting news on digital platforms, Huang said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
One is to make it mandatory for digital platforms and news media to negotiate pricing for the use of news content, similar to mechanisms in Australia and Canada, Huang said.
The other is to stipulate that news media have neighboring rights, meaning that digital platforms must obtain authorization from news media when using their content and pay royalties, he said, adding that the EU adopted that policy by amending the EU Copyright Directive.
However, they are not bulletproof solutions, Huang said.
The Australian parliament passed the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code in 2021, requiring Google and Meta to sign contracts with Australian news media and pay to use news content, he said.
Thanks to that, Australian news media received more than A$200 million (US$127.76 million at the current exchange rate) annually from both platforms from 2021 to 2023, Huang said.
However, Meta last year announced that it would not renew contracts with Australian news media and terminated all related partnerships, he said.
Google was committed to a five-year pledge to offer C$100 million (US$72.35 million) per year to fund news media in Canada after a similar bill was passed in 2023, a tactic to free itself from the obligation of pricing negotiations over news content, Huang said.
Meanwhile, Meta rejected the obligation and simply blocked traffic to news articles in Canada, which hurt medium and small-sized media outlets the most, he said.
In Europe, allowing news media to exercise neighboring rights does not resolve the unequal bargaining power between news media and digital platforms, Huang said.
Any claims for restitution filed by news media outlets would need to be arbitrated by the judicial branch in the EU, which could take years and huge funds to settle, he said.
The Office of the US Trade Representative said that related legislations in Australia and Canada were unfair practices that have hurt the US’ interests, Huang said, adding that passing such legislation in Taiwan at this moment could trigger “reciprocal” tariffs from the US.
“Personally, I do not think the timing is right,” Huang said in response to Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Legislator Lin Chun-hsien’s (林俊憲) question on the necessity of pushing the bill now.
Google in 2023 launched the Taiwan News Digital Co-Prosperity Fund to provide grants to facilitate the transformation of the news industry, the digital affairs ministry said, adding that Google had pledged to donate NT$300 million (US$9.37 million) over three years.
The US technology firm would determine if the funding should continue after the three-year period ends, the ministry said.
The ministry further pledged to help news media find new business models as well.
DPP lawmakers, including Lin Chun-hsien, Tsai Chi-chang, Fan Yun (范雲) and Michelle Lin (林楚茵), said the bill allowing news media to bargain over the pricing of their content should still be in place, adding that the ministry has authority over the two platforms, particularly regarding deterring fraudulent advertisements and allegations that they collude with China to censor pro-Taiwan content.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) dismissed the ministry’s worries about potential “reciprocal” tariffs from the US, saying that the ministry was just using it as an excuse not to push the bill.
“Our trade negotiations with the US have yet to touch on relevant issues. The ministry should not sacrifice of the interests of Taiwanese news media for fear of provoking the US,” Wang said.
Taiwan People’s Party deputy caucus convener Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) said the party supports news media’s right to bargain over the pricing of news content.
“We are racing against time right now, and the ministry should not stop the introduction of the bill simply because of pressure from the US,” Chang said.
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