‘Social media will become America’s local newspaper’: Facebook plans to remove news stories if new US media law goes into effect

Facebook parent Meta Platforms is threatening to remove all messages on the platform if a controversial US media law is passed.

The company would be forced to potentially scrap all news if the law went into effect, “rather than submitting to government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard any value we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions,” he said Meta spokesperson Andy Stone on Monday. The bill does not recognize that publishers and broadcasters put content on the platform “because they benefit from it – and not the other way around”.

The so-called Journalism Competition and Preservation Act is to be launched with the annual defense budget to protect primarily local journalism, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Accordingly, the large technology groups should pay for media content that brings users and advertising revenue to their platforms.

Sharp criticism from newspaper publishers

The News Media Alliance, which represents newspaper publishers, argues that “local newspapers cannot afford to endure the use and abuse of big tech for several more years.” Time is running out. “If Congress doesn’t act soon, we risk social media becoming America’s de facto local newspaper.”

More than two dozen industry representatives, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Knowledge and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, are opposing the law. It creates antitrust exceptions for publishers and broadcasters.

A similar law came into force in Australia in March 2021, which a government report says is largely having the desired effect. Various tech companies, including Meta and Google parent Alphabet, have signed more than 30 deals with media companies, paying them for content that generates clicks and advertising revenue. (Reuters)

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