Meta has threatened to pull news content from its social media platforms in California if the state passes legislation that obliges tech companies to pay news outlets for their content.
The proposed bill, titled California Journalism Preservation Act, would make it mandatory for tech corporations to compensate news publishers for featuring their content on their social media sites. The legislation is aimed at supporting the local news industry by introducing a “journalism usage fee”.
News publishers would also be required to invest 70 per cent of the usage fee profits into newsroom jobs, according to reports.
Criticising the payment structure laid out in the bill, Meta Spokesperson Andy Stone termed it a “slush fund”. He tweeted a detailed statement in response to the legislation, saying the bill will benefit large media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers.
“The bill fails to recognize that publishers and broadcasters put their content on our platforms themselves and that substantial consolidation in California’s local news industry came over 15 years ago, well before Facebook was widely used,” remarked Stone.
It is disappointing that California lawmakers appear to be prioritizing the best interests of national and international media companies over their own constituents, Stone added.
Meta statement on the California Journalism Preservation Act. pic.twitter.com/ssgk1vSryB
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) May 31, 2023
This is not the first time Meta has threatened to remove news content from Facebook and Instagram. In March, Meta threatened to suspend news content from its platforms in Canada in response to the proposed Online News Act. It was a similar revenue-sharing journalism bill that would oblige tech corporations to pay publishers for their news content.
The development came after the news media industry in Canada urged the government to increase regulation of tech companies. Such legislation would enable publishers to recover financial losses they have suffered in recent years due to Big Tech’s dominance over digital advertising as Meta and Google are known to profit heavily from news content and have repeatedly been called out for exploiting the digital ad market.
In 2021, Meta briefly suspended news content from its platforms in Australia after a similar legislation was passed. The content was restored following successful talks between Meta and Australian media companies, which resulted in several amendments to the legislation.
Big Tech’s dominance over newsrooms is even worse in countries like Pakistan, where Google and Meta usurp nearly 85 per cent of digital ad revenue, according to a research released by Media Matters for Democracy.
Link: State of Pakistan’s Media Economy: Impact on Independent Journalism
