September 23, 2022
The United States Senate Judiciary Committee voted for a bill that would allow news organizations to team up to negotiate higher revenues with Google and Facebook.
The law aims to give news and broadcast organizations more leverage after years of scrutiny of how big technology companies use their content to attract traffic and ad revenue without fairly compensating publishers, many of whom are struggling financially.
The bill, spearheaded by Amy Klobuchar, hit a snag earlier this month when Senator Ted Cruz won support for a plan that included provisions to address what he said would eliminate platforms’ suppression of conservative voices. Klobuchar eventually won support for an amendment on content pricing.
“The goal of the bill is to provide compensation to local news organizations when major titans, monopolies like Facebook and Google access their content,” Klobuchar said.
Unlike other bills aimed at tamping down big technology companies, some progressive groups, such as Public Knowledge, oppose the bill on the grounds that it benefits big broadcasters like News Corp, Sinclair, and Comcast/NBCU. The bill is also opposed by two technology industry trade groups to which Facebook and Google belong: the Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
