Meta threatens to remove news from its platform if US Congress passes media bill

Washington: Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc threatened Monday to pull its platform if the US Congress passes a resolution aimed at making it easier for news organizations to collectively negotiate with companies such as Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook. Will delete the news.

Sources briefed on the matter said lawmakers are considering including the Journalism Competition and Protection Act in the annual Defense Bill as a way to help the struggling local news industry. Meta spokesman Andy Stone said in a tweet that the company would be forced to consider removing the news if the law was passed “rather than submit to government-mandated dialogue that unfairly disregards any value”. is what we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions.”

He said the proposal fails to recognize that publishers and broadcasters put content on the platform because “it benefits their bottom line – not the other way around.”

The News Media Alliance, a trade group representing newspaper publishers, is urging Congress to add the bill to the defense bill, arguing that “local papers will not tolerate many more years of Big Tech use and abuse.” We can, and time to act is running short.. If Congress doesn’t act soon, we risk allowing social media to become America’s de facto local newspaper.

More than two dozen groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Knowledge and the Computer and Communications Industry Association, urged Congress on Monday not to approve the local news bill, saying it was “an ill-advised antitrust law for publishers and broadcasters.” exemption” and argued the bill does not require “money received through negotiation or arbitration to be paid to journalists as well.”

A similar Australian law, which was supposed to shut down Facebook news feeds in the country in March 2021 after talks with big tech firms, has largely worked, a government report said.

The report says that since the News Media Bargaining Code took effect, various tech firms including Meta and Alphabet have signed more than 30 deals with media outlets, compensating them for content that generates clicks and advertising dollars. Can go

(Reporting by David Shepperson in Washington; Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)

Disclaimer: This report is generated automatically from Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.


Read also: Facebook owner grapples with rising costs, so Meta will lay off more than 11,000 workers globally