Google Says it Will Stop Linking to New Zealand News if Law Passes Forcing it to Pay for Content

The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)
The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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Google Says it Will Stop Linking to New Zealand News if Law Passes Forcing it to Pay for Content

The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)
The Google logo is seen on the Google house at CES 2024, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, January 10, 2024. (Reuters)

Google said Friday it will stop linking to New Zealand news content and will reverse its support of local media outlets if the government passes a law forcing tech companies to pay for articles displayed on their platforms.

The vow to sever Google traffic to New Zealand news sites — made in a blog post by the search giant on Friday — echoes strategies the firm deployed as Australia and Canada prepared to enact similar laws in recent years.

It followed a surprise announcement by New Zealand’s government in July that lawmakers would advance a bill forcing tech platforms to strike deals for sharing revenue generated from news content with the media outlets producing it.

The government, led by center-right National, had opposed the law in 2023 when introduced by the previous administration.

But the loss of more than 200 newsroom jobs earlier this year — in a national media industry that totaled 1,600 reporters at the 2018 census and has likely shrunk since — prompted the current government to reconsider forcing tech companies to pay publishers for displaying content.

The law aims to stanch the flow offshore of advertising revenue derived from New Zealand news products.

Google New Zealand Country Director Caroline Rainsford wrote Friday that the firm would change its involvement in the country’s media landscape if it passed.

“Specifically, we’d be forced to stop linking to news content on Google Search, Google News, or Discover surfaces in New Zealand and discontinue our current commercial agreements and ecosystem support with New Zealand news publishers,” she wrote.

Google’s licensing program in New Zealand contributed “millions of dollars per year to almost 50 local publications,” she added.

The News Publishers’ Association, a New Zealand sector group, said in a written statement Friday that Google’s pledge amounted to “threats” and reflected “the kind of pressure that it has been applying” to the government and news outlets, Public Affairs Director Andrew Holden said.

The government “should be able to make laws to strengthen democracy in this country without being subjected to this kind of corporate bullying,” he said.

Australia was the first country to attempt to force tech firms — including Google and Meta — to the bargaining table with news outlets through a law passed in 2021. At first, the tech giants imposed news blackouts for Australians on their platforms, but both eventually somewhat relented, striking deals reportedly worth 200 million Australian dollars ($137 million) a year, paid to Australian outlets for use of their content.

But Belinda Barnet, a media expert at Swinburne University in Melbourne, said Meta has refused to renew its contracts with Australian news media while Google is renegotiating its initial agreements.

As Canada prepared to pass similar digital news bargaining laws in 2023, Google and Meta again vowed to cease their support for the country’s media. Last November, however, Google promised to contribute 100 million Canadian dollars ($74 million) — indexed to inflation — in financial support annually for news businesses across the country.

Colin Peacock, an analyst who hosts the Mediawatch program on RNZ, New Zealand’s public radio broadcaster, said Google “doesn’t want headlines around the world that say another country has pushed back” by enacting such a law.

While Google pointed Friday to its support of local outlets, Peacock said one of its funding recipients – the publisher of a small newspaper – had told a parliamentary committee this year that the amount he received was “a pittance” and not enough to hire a single graduate reporter.

Minister for Media and Communications Paul Goldsmith told The Associated Press in a written statement on Friday that he was still consulting on the next version of the bill.

“My officials and I have met with Google on a number of occasions to discuss their concerns, and will continue to do so,” he said.

Goldsmith said in July that he planned to pass the law by the end of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Elon Musk's AI Chatbot Grok Gets an Update, Starts Sharing Antisemitic Posts

xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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Elon Musk's AI Chatbot Grok Gets an Update, Starts Sharing Antisemitic Posts

xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
xAI and Grok logos are seen in this illustration taken, February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company said Wednesday that it's taking down “inappropriate posts" made by its Grok chatbot, which appeared to include antisemitic comments that praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok was developed by Musk’s xAI and pitched as alternative to “woke AI” interactions from rival chatbots like Google’s Gemini, or OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Musk said Friday that Grok has been improved significantly, and users “should notice a difference.”

Since then, Grok has shared several antisemitic posts, including the trope that Jews run Hollywood, and denied that such a stance could be described as Nazism.

“Labeling truths as hate speech stifles discussion,” Grok said.

It also appeared to praise Hitler, according to screenshots of a post that has now apparently been deleted.

“We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts,” the Grok account posted early Wednesday, without being more specific.

"Since being made aware of the content, xAI has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAI is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.

Also Wednesday, a court in Türkiye ordered a ban on Grok after it spread content insulting to Turkish President and others.

The pro-government A Haber news channel reported that Grok posted vulgarities against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his late mother and well-known personalities. Offensive responses were also directed toward modern Türkiye's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, other media outlets said.

That prompted the Ankara public prosecutor to file for the imposition of restrictions under Türkiye's internet law, citing a threat to public order. A criminal court approved the request early on Wednesday, ordering the country’s telecommunications authority to enforce the ban.

It's not the first time Grok's behavior has raised questions.

Earlier this year the chatbot kept talking about South African racial politics and the subject of “white genocide” despite being asked a variety of questions, most of which had nothing to do with the country. An “unauthorized modification” was behind the problem, xAI said.