Facebook owner Meta may remove news from platform if U.S. Congress passes media bill - Reuters

WASHINGTON, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Facebook genitor Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) connected Monday threatened to region quality from its level if the U.S. Congress passes a connection aimed astatine making it easier for quality organizations to negociate collectively with companies similar Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google and Facebook.

Sources briefed connected the substance said lawmakers are considering adding the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act to a must-pass yearly defence measure arsenic mode to assistance the struggling section quality industry.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone successful a tweet said the institution would beryllium forced to see removing quality if the instrumentality was passed "rather than taxable to government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard immoderate worth we supply to quality outlets done accrued postulation and subscriptions."

He added the connection fails to admit that publishers and broadcasters enactment contented connected the level due to the fact that "it benefits their bottommost enactment - not the different mode around."

The News Media Alliance, a commercialized radical representing paper publishers, is urging Congress to adhd the measure to the defence bill, arguing that "local papers cannot spend to endure respective much years of Big Tech’s usage and abuse, and clip to instrumentality enactment is dwindling. If Congress does not enactment soon, we hazard allowing societal media to go America’s de facto section newspaper."

More than 2 twelve groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Knowledge and the Computer & Communications Industry Association connected Monday urged Congress not to o.k. the section quality measure saying it would "create an ill-advised antitrust exemption for publishers and broadcasters" and argued the measure does not necessitate "funds gained done dialog oregon arbitration volition adjacent beryllium paid to journalists."

A akin Australian law, which took effect successful March 2021 aft talks with the large tech firms led to a little shutdown of Facebook quality feeds successful the country, has mostly worked, a authorities study said.

Since the News Media Bargaining Code took effect, assorted tech firms including Meta and Alphabet person signed much than 30 deals with media outlets, compensating them for contented that generated clicks and advertizing dollars, the study added.

Reporting by David Shepardson successful Washington Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh successful Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis

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