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Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc. on Wednesday threated to block users in California from sharing news articles if lawmakers in its home state pass legislation requiring some tech companies to pay news publishers.
The California Journalism Preservation Act, which is up for a vote in the state Assembly on Thursday, would require social-media platforms that make money on online ads through distributing news articles to pay a fee to support digital news publishers. Under the bill, news organizations would be required to spend at least 70% of that fee revenue on their newsrooms.
Meta
META,
spokesman Andy Reed tweeted Wednesday that if the bill becomes law, Meta will “be forced” to remove news links from Facebook and Instagram, rather than “pay into a slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies.”
California Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, who sponsored the bill, called the threat from Menlo Park, Calif.-based Meta “a scare tactic that they’ve tried to deploy, unsuccessfully, in every country that’s attempted this. It is egregious that one of the wealthiest companies in the world would rather silence journalists than face regulation.”
In recent years, news publishers have seen their advertising revenue dry up as tech companies such as Meta and Google’s Alphabet
GOOG,
GOOGL,
reap the lion’s share of profits from online ads.
Australia and New Zealand have similar laws in place requiring social-media companies to pay news outlets, and Canada is considering a plan as well. Meta has threatened to block news in Canada if that law is passed, and briefly blocked news links in Australia before agreeing to a deal with media companies.
Also see: Meta Platforms asks federal court to halt further FTC restrictions: WSJ
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