Congress had an opportunity this year to take an important step to support stronger communities, better government and civil discourse. Unfortunately, a heavy lobbying effort succeeded in derailing the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act that would have given regional and small publishers the opportunity to negotiate fair compensation for the journalism that Google and Facebook host on their platforms.
OTTAWA - The House of Commons passed a Liberal bill on Wednesday designed to require web giants to compensate journalism outfits for reposting their content, and Meta is once again threatening to remove news content from Facebook in Canada.
It’s no secret that local journalism is in deep trouble. More than two newspapers are disappearing each week, on average, and more than a fifth of Americans live in “news deserts” — communities that have lost, or are in the process of losing, their local news providers. As a result, lies and other misinformation proliferate, damaging American democracy.
Facebook threatened to block news in the U.S. over the measure, which was under consideration as part of a defense package.
Lawmakers have added a measure to Congress' must-pass defense funding bill that would force Big Tech firms like Google and Meta to pay hundreds of local news outlets for their content, sources tell Axios.
The New Zealand government said it will introduce a law that will require big online digital companies such as Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) to pay New Zealand media companies for the local news content that appears on their feeds.
Who would have guessed Australia would show the U.S. and Canada how to save their news industries and democracy?