Facebook in the US will no longer have any news material, according to Meta.
It opposes a new rule that would give media organizations more negotiating power when setting prices for Facebook-shared material.
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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 actually boosts traffic to failing news organizations.
Publishers post their content to Facebook because, according to the article, “it enhances their bottom 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 bargain with social media companies for a larger portion of ad revenue would increase for publishers and broadcasters.
Media companies contend that news stories published on Meta earn enormous sums of money.
BREAKING: #BNNUS Reports.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, threatened to quit carrying news on its social media platform if US lawmakers pass a bill that gives media outlets more leverage in negotiating usage fees for their content. #Meta #Facebook #Business #US pic.twitter.com/5zyx1vqikk
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) December 6, 2022
While Meta generated enormous revenues throughout the pandemic, local news in especially faltered.
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 journalism 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.
A representative for Meta stated the following regarding the proposed law in Australia last year: “Facebook sees little business benefit from news. Less than 4% of the stuff that users see 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 throughout the world.”
