The California House of Representatives passed a bill that requires prominent
social media networks to pay news media outlets for content published on their
platforms, despite Meta's threat to completely remove these articles, images,
and videos.
After a majority of House members voted in favor of the bill proposed by
Democrats and Republicans to support local journalism, it was referred to the
Senate.
California Journalism Preservation Act
The law, called the "California Journalism Preservation Act," sets several
criteria that limit its application to a few major digital platforms,
including Facebook and Instagram.
It specifies a mechanism for balancing that determines a percentage of
advertising revenue on social media networks that is paid to online content
producers.
Meta's Spokesperson Threatens to Withdraw Information in Response to California Law Proposal
Meta's spokesperson, Andy Stone, tweeted that if the law is passed, "we will
have to withdraw information from Facebook and Instagram instead of funding a
fund specifically benefiting major media outlets located outside the state,
under the pretext of helping journalists in California."
He pointed out that publishers bear the responsibility for their articles and
videos on social media, adding that media presence in California existed
before Facebook.
Meta statement on the California Journalism Preservation Act. pic.twitter.com/ssgk1vSryB
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) May 31, 2023
In 2021, Facebook temporarily blocked news content in Australia after a
similar law was passed, before both Google and the media outlets agreed to
sign deals and invest amounts to support them. The California bill proposal
requires at least 70% of the funds received by publishers to be allocated to
editorial content."