Facebook has threatened to remove news content from its platform if Congress passes a bill that would make it easier for news organizations to collectively negotiate deals with tech giants.
US policymakers are reportedly considering passage of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act as a way to help the struggling local news industry.
The bill would make it easier for news companies to collectively negotiate with internet giants like Meta, which owns Facebook, and Alphabet Inc regarding the terms under which news companies’ content can be distributed online.
Companies involved in news production claim that Meta generates huge sums of money through advertising revenue from news articles shared on the platform.
But owner of Facebook Half says the new offerings “unfairly ignore any value” Facebook provides through “increased traffic and signups.”
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in a tweet that the company would be forced to consider removing the news if the law is passed.
He added that the proposal fails to recognize that publishers and broadcasters publish content on the platform because it “benefits their bottom line, not the other way around.”
In February of last year, The Australians were blocked from accessing and sharing news on Facebook following a dispute between Meta and the Australian government over payments for content.
Meta later backed down and agreed a deal with Australian lawmakers to pay for the content following the criticism.
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The News Media Alliance, a US trade group representing newspaper publishers, is urging Congress to pass the Journalism Competition and Preservation Ac, arguing that “local newspapers cannot afford to put up with many more years of use and abuse of Big Tech , and time to act is running out. If Congress doesn’t act soon, we risk allowing social media to become America’s de facto local newspaper.”
But groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Knowledge and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, have urged Congress not to pass the local news bill saying it “would create an ill-advised antitrust exemption for publishers and broadcasters.”
