California lawmakers want Google and Facebook to pay publishers for news content — the latest sign of public discontent over the growing power of tech giants.
Buffy Wicks, a state legislator representing Oakland, has introduced a bill that would require tech companies that profit from news content to pay media outlets a “journalism usage fee” when they sell ads.
The proposed legislation would also require content publishers to invest 70% of fee proceeds in journalism jobs.
“Big Tech has become journalism’s de facto gatekeeper, using its dominance to set rules for how news content is displayed, prioritized and monetized,” said Emily Charrier, head of the California News Publishers Association, told the Los Angeles Times.
“Our members are the sources of that journalism and they earn fair market value for news they produce.”
The Post has sought comment from Google and Facebook’s parent company, Meta.
In December, Meta threatened to completely remove news content from its platform if Congress passed a similar measure that would require tech companies to pay news outlets for their material.
If the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act is passed, news companies could collectively negotiate with social platforms the terms under which their material appears on their sites.
Meta said it would rather pull news from its platforms than “submit to government-mandated negotiations that unfairly ignore the value we bring to news outlets.”
The value, Meta said in a statement tweeted by spokesperson Andy Stone, includes “increased traffic and subscriptions.”
In July, Meta told news outlets it would no longer pay them for content that appears on the site’s News tab.
The move was part of a general shift in strategy that would see Facebook de-emphasize news in favor of more creative initiatives.
In February 2021, Meta signed agreements with three Australian news publishers, just a day after the country’s parliament passed a law requiring digital companies to pay for news.
The move came after Meta briefly banned Australian news sites from Facebook in protest of the legislation.
Last April, Canada said it would consider a bill that would force tech companies to pay local news publishers for content.
Meta earlier this month pledged to block all news content from its Canadian users if lawmakers in Ottawa pass the “Online News Act” in its current form.
“A legal framework that forces us to pay for links or content that we don’t post, and that aren’t the reason the vast majority of people use our platforms, is neither sustainable nor workable,” a Meta spokesperson told Reuters when asked about the company’s threat.
Last year, Google parent Alphabet struck deals with 300 publishers across Europe under which the tech giant would pay news sites to display snippets of reporters’ work in search results.
In 2021, Google signed deals with some 120 UK publications as part of a plan to pay news outlets for content.
In January, the Biden administration and eight states filed a lawsuit to force Google to sell its ad manager suite, alleging the company was stifling competition.
The case is one of two Justice Department antitrust suits against Google.
The US magistrate judge overseeing the case ruled last week on an accelerated trial schedule.
The other, filed in October 2020 and challenging Google’s search business, is scheduled for trial in Washington, D.C. federal court in September.
Google has rejected the claims in both cases.
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