Facebook-Parent Meta Threatens To Remove News Content In California: Here's Why

Meta has been engaged in similar battles regarding news publisher compensation at the federal level and in other countries outside the US.

The proposals echo the groundbreaking law enacted by Australia in 2021, which triggered similar threats from Facebook and Google.

On Wednesday, Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, announced that it would remove news content in California if the state government passed legislation mandating tech companies to pay publishers, as reported by Reuters. The proposed California Journalism Preservation Act aims to combat the decline of the local news sector by requiring online platforms to pay a "journalism usage fee" to news providers whose work is featured in their services.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone criticised the payment structure, labelling it a "slush fund." He further argued that the bill would primarily benefit "big, out-of-state media companies" while disguising its intention to support California publishers.

Meta statement on the California Journalism Preservation Act. pic.twitter.com/ssgk1vSryB

— Andy Stone (@andymstone) May 31, 2023

While this is the first time Meta has specifically addressed the California bill, the company has been engaged in similar battles regarding news publisher compensation at the federal level and in other countries outside the United States.

In December, Stone stated that Meta would completely remove news from its platform if Congress passed a bill resembling the proposed legislation in California. Similarly, both Meta and Alphabet's Google have threatened to withdraw news in Canada in response to proposed legislation there. Google also declared its intention to remove links to news articles from Canadian search results.

These proposals echo the groundbreaking law enacted by Australia in 2021, which triggered similar threats from Facebook and Google. Ultimately, both companies reached agreements with Australian media firms after amendments were made to the legislation, although Facebook temporarily shut down news feeds in Australia during the process.

In December, an Australian government report concluded that the law had been largely effective in achieving its goals.

Reuters added that at the time of filing the report, Google had not provided a comment in response to a request from Reuters regarding the California bill.