Meta opposes to the new legislation that would give news organizations more leverage in negotiating compensation for content shared on Facebook.
Similar legislation in Australia led to the temporary removal of news stories on Facebook late last year.
Meta asserts that their service helps struggling media organizations by driving more readers their way.
Publishers, it adds, post to Facebook because “it enhances their business line.”
Minnesota Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar presented the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) in the U.S. Senate, and it has received backing from members of both parties.
As a result, media outlets would be in a stronger position to negotiate with social media giants for a larger cut of their advertising profits.
The media industry claims that Meta brings in millions of dollars a year from advertising revenue on shared news stories.
During the height of the epidemic, local news stations especially suffered while Meta raked in the cash.
That said, Meta contends that this interpretation is incorrect. It claims that Meta is what actually makes people go to news sites.
A representative for Meta, Andy Stone, said, “If Congress adopts an ill-considered media bill as part of national security legislation, we will be compelled to consider removing news off our platform completely.”
Also, Meta claims that Facebook’s news-sharing feature generates very little money for the company overall.
A similar rule in Australia went into effect in March 2021, prompting a temporary suspension of Facebook news feeds in that nation.
The corporation immediately changed its mind in response to the widespread backlash, striking an agreement with the Australian government.
Last year, a representative for Meta stated in a statement on Australia’s proposed bill, “The commercial benefit of Facebook’s coverage of news is negligible. Less than 4% of the items on a user’s News Feed are actual news stories.”
The rules passed in the United States are just one piece of a bigger effort to curb Big Tech’s hegemony.
In the absence of the JCPA, proponents argue, social media would replace local newspapers as America’s “de facto local newspapers.”
Reporters are being “eaten alive” by Meta, according to Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project.
By trying to extort lawmakers, “Meta’s actions demonstrate once again why this monopoly is a menace to democracy everywhere,” he warned.
