Meta to remove US news content if new law passes
Meta to remove US news content if new law passes – Meta, formerly known as Facebook has threatened to remove all United States news content from their platforms if the new law is passed.
It opposes a proposed rule that would give media organizations more negotiating power when setting prices for Facebook-shared material.
News on Facebook was temporarily stopped last year as a result of a similar rule that was approved in Australia.
According to Meta, their platform really boosts traffic to failing news organizations.
Publishers post their material to Facebook because, according to the article, “it enhances their financial line.”
Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota presented the bill, formally known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), in Congress. It has bipartisan support.
The ability to jointly negotiate with social media companies for a larger portion of ad income would increase for publishers and broadcasters.
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Media corporations contend that news stories published on Meta make enormous sums of money.
While Meta made enormous profits during the pandemic, local news in particular struggled.
Meta counters that this story is untrue. Instead, it asserts, Meta promotes news sources.
A representative for Meta, Andy Stone, stated: “We will be compelled to consider removing news off our platform entirely if Congress approves a poorly thought-out media measure as part of national security legislation.”
Additionally, Meta contends that a little portion of Facebook’s revenue comes from news sharing.
A similar Australian rule went into force in March 2021, and for a short time, Facebook news feeds were unavailable there.
After receiving harsh criticism, the business soon changed its mind and negotiated an agreement with the Australian government.
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A representative for Meta stated the following on the proposed law in Australia last year: “Facebook sees little business benefit from news. Less than 4% of the stuff that users view in their News Feed is news.”
The US legislation is a component of a bigger body of regulations designed to counter Big Tech’s hegemony.
If the JCPA is not passed, social media will allegedly replace local newspapers as America’s primary news source.
According to Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, Meta is “eating alive” media organizations.
He claimed that Meta’s attempts to extort Congress “show once more why this monopoly is a threat to democracies around the world.”
