The Commerce Commission has provisionally authorised the News Publishers' Association of New Zealand to collectively negotiate with Meta and Google regarding the terms and conditions on which participating news media companies' content is displayed on digital platforms operated by Meta and Google.
The provisional authorisation allows the authorised parties to commence collective bargaining while the Commission continues to consider their authorisation application and reach a concluded view on whether the conduct should be authorised. The Commission's decision to grant provisional authorisation should not be taken as an indication that it is likely to grant or decline the application for authorisation.
The Commission has assessed the evidence available at this time, and it considers that it is appropriate to grant provisional authorisation, taking into account the factors set out in our guidelines. In particular, the Commission recognises the likely benefits associated with the collective negotiation in this case, and that there is value in realising those benefits sooner rather than later.
The likely benefits of collective negotiation include the potential for participating news media companies to pool their resources and reduce the transaction costs of negotiation. Collective negotiation may also put smaller media companies in a better position to negotiate with Google and Meta than might otherwise be the case. The Commission also considers that allowing this provisional arrangement is unlikely to materially alter the market in a permanent way.
