Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, threatened on Monday to remove news from its platform if the Congress U.S. passes a proposal that makes it easier for news organizations to bargain collectively against companies like Google and Facebook.
Lawmakers are discussing adding the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) to an annual defense bill that is due to be passed, according to sources familiar with the situation. This would help struggling local news organizations
See also: Meta: Fined for old Facebook user data leak
The legislation proposed by Senator Amy Klobuchar and supported by more than a dozen other lawmakers would allow news organizations to collectively bargain against social media platforms for a greater share of advertising revenue in exchange for their news content.
The News Media Alliance, a trade group representing newspaper publishers, is urging Congress to add the bill to the defense, arguing that “local newspapers cannot afford to endure years of Big Tech abuse, and the time to act is running out. If Congress does not act soon, we risk allowing social media to become America’s de facto local newspaper.”
On the other hand, Meta spokesman Andy Stonesaid: “If Congress passes the journalism bill as part of national security, we will be forced to consider removing news from platform our rather than submit to government-mandated negotiations that would unfairly ignore any value we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions.”
See also: Meta: The US military is conducting propaganda
Meta is likely to carry out its threat, given its actions when similar legislation was on the verge of being passed in Australia last year. Mark Zuckerberg briefly suspended users to share and view news links on its platforms. However, it later reversed course and the legislation was passed later that year.
The tech industry has strongly opposed the JCPA bill. However, it appears that negative criticism has also been leveled by civil society groups, who in a letter to congressional leaders said that the JCPA could exacerbate misinformation by allowing news websites to sue tech platforms for reducing the reach of a story.
See also: Schoolyard Bully Android malware: Steals Facebook accounts
The letter also said that the JCPA could end up disproportionately favoring large media companies over small, local and independent media outlets that have been hit hardest by declining digital advertising.
Among those who signed the letter are the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Wikimedia Foundation and Public Knowledge.
Source: edition.cnn.com
