Bill Stalls To Force Big Tech To Pay Publishers For Online News

Proposed legislation that would force Big Tech to pay publishers for aggregating news content online stalled in the Judiciary Committee Thursday after an amendment introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz to prohibit censorship “collusion” narrowly passed, sharply dividing the bipartisan sponsors of the bill, reports The Chicago Tribune.

“I don’t think we can support this bill anymore,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a co-sponsor of the bill. “I think the agreement that we had has been blown up.”

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, which would temporarily exempt newspapers, broadcasters and other publishers from antitrust laws to collectively negotiate an annual fee from Google and Meta/Facebook, will be held over for a future committee hearing to determine if it moves to the Senate floor for a vote.

Google and Meta/Facebook, which dominate the nearly $250 billion U.S. digital advertising market, are the only two platforms targeted by the proposed legislation, which seeks to level the online playing field and boost struggling local news media.

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment, while a Google spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The legislation would cover thousands of local and regional newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and other Tribune Publishing newspapers, which were acquired by hedge fund Alden Global Capital for $633 million in May 2021. It excludes the largest national publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, which have more successfully navigated the digital transition through increased subscription revenue.

The bill also covers local TV and radio broadcasters — including network owned and operated stations — that publish original digital news content and meet other eligibility requirements.

The Judiciary Committee approved several amendments during Thursday’s markup session, including reducing the sunset clause in the bill from 8 years to 6 years and requiring the loser pay attorneys fees in any litigation, before the Cruz amendment brought the session to a halt with concerns that Big Tech and media might collude on “blanket censorship.”

The Cruz amendment said the antitrust exemption “shall not apply” during negotiations if any participant “engages in any discussion of content moderation” policies.

“What this amendment would do is say when the cartels sit down and negotiate, they’d say we’re not going to discuss censorship, we’re going to discuss price,” said Cruz, R-Texas.

Klobuchar said the Cruz amendment would give Google and Meta/Facebook a “get out of jail free card” by providing an opportunity for gamesmanship during the negotiations.

“Since news outlets depend on the antitrust exemption, while the covered platforms do not, the platforms could then raise content moderation at the first opportunity in an attempt to avoid the joint negotiations,” Klobuchar said.

A study released in June by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism found newspapers are folding at an average of more than two per week, and that the country has lost more than a fourth of its newspapers — about 2,500 overall — and 60% of its working journalists since 2005. That has created so-called news deserts, where 1 out of 5 people in the U.S. have limited access to local news.