Meta is reportedly considering removing news content from its platforms following reports that lawmakers in the U.S, where the company is based, have added controversial legislation favoring news media to the annual defense authorization bill.
Known simply as “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA)”, the bill, introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar and backed by more than a dozen other lawmakers from both parties, would create a four-year exemption under US antitrust law allowing news outlets to bargain collectively against social media platforms for a larger share of ad revenue in exchange for their news content, as per Brian Fung.
In a statement released on Twitter by spokesman Andy Stone, Meta said: “If Congress passes an ill-considered journalism bill as part of national security legislation…We will be forced to consider removing news from our platform altogether rather than submit to government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard any value we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions.”
Meta has expressed readiness to pursue its decision to block news content from its platform. According to Fung, “when similar legislation was on the verge of passing in Australia last year, the company briefly suspended users’ ability to share and view links to news stories on its platforms.”
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Fight for the Future, a digital rights organization, claims “multiple sources had said a push to include the JCPA in the annual defense bill was successful and that the National Defense Authorization Act included the JCPA’s language.”
“The tech industry has strongly opposed the JCPA, but the bill has also attracted criticism from more than two dozen civil society groups that are often at odds with Big Tech on policy matters,” Fung writes.