Meta Threat Stop News View On Facebook If The US Congress Agrees To The New Journalism Law

Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms Inc, on Monday 5 November threatened to remove news from its platform if the US Congress passed a proposal aimed at making it easier for news organizations to negotiate collectively with companies like Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook.

A source briefed on the matter said lawmakers were considering adding the Law on Competition and Preservation of Journalism to the annual defense laws that must be passed as a way to assist 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 subject to negotiations mandated by the government that unfairly ignore any value Meta has given news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions."

Meta statement on the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act: pic.twitter.com/kyFqKQw7xs

— Andy Stone (@andymstone) December 5, 2022

He added the proposal failed to admit that publishers and broadcasters put content on the platform because "it benefits their benefits - not the other way around."

The News Media Alliance, a trade group representing newspaper publishers, urged Congress to add the bill to the defense bill, arguing that "local newspapers are unable to bear the use and abuse of Big Tech for more than a few years, and the time to take action is decreasing. If Congress does not act immediately, we risk allowing social media to become a local de facto American newspaper, said The News Media Alliance.

Reported by Reuters, more than two dozen groups including the American Civil Freedom Union, Public Knowledge, and the Computer & Communications Industry Association on Monday urged Congress not to approve a local news bill saying it would "create false antitrust exemptions for publishers and broadcasters" and argued the bill did not require "funds obtained through negotiations or arbitration to even be paid to journalists."

A similar Australian law comes into force in March 2021 after talks with major tech companies led to the temporary suspension of Facebook news feeds in the country, largely successful, government reports said.

Since the News Media Bargaining Code came into effect, various technology companies including Meta and Alphabet have signed more than 30 deals with media outlets, providing compensation to those for content that generates clicks and money from advertising, the report added.