In the United States Congress, Democrats have currently sent a bill, authored by Senator Amy Klobuchar – who is a staunch critic of Big Tech and an outspoken advocate for tougher US competition laws, called “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act”. .
The bill aims to level the playing field by allowing newspapers and other media to join forces to negotiate a greater share of online advertising revenue.
From today, media houses must negotiate individually, but collectively the hope is that they can force Meta and Alphabet, which are the world leaders in digital advertising, to have to share more revenue. Newspaper advertising sales in the United States are estimated to have fallen 52% between 2002 and 2020, writes MarketWatch.
– Ignore the value we provide
Thanks to Facebook, Meta is one of the biggest news providers in the world and is reacting strongly to the bill. Among other things, the tech company says the bill will allow the government to create a “cartel-like company that forces one private company to subsidize other private companies” and they believe it will set a terrible precedent for all American companies, writes MarketWatch. .
Meta communications director Andy Stone posted a message on Twitter in which he wrote that the company will be forced to consider removing the information from the platform if the law is passed, rather than being coerced to negotiations that “unfairly ignore any value we provide”. to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions.
Australia leads the way
Australia introduced a similar law in 2021 that gave the government the power to compel online companies to negotiate media deals for the provision of content. This led to Facebook banning the news in the country, only to change its mind after a few days. A review of the law carried out last week showed that the law was working largely as it should, writes Reuters.
This weekend, New Zealand Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson also said he wanted to introduce a new law that would force big tech companies such as Alphabet and Meta Platforms to pay media companies in the island state. Jackson said the legislation would be based on similar laws in Australia and Canada, and he hoped it would spur digital platforms to strike deals with local newscasters.
