Meta threatens to consider removing news from its apps if Congress passes Senator Klobuchar's “ill-considered” Journalism Competition and Preservation Act

Bill would allow news organizations to band together to negotiate for a larger share of online advertising revenue

MarketWatch 2022-12-06 Jon Swartz

Context & Ripple Effects

The proposal had already cleared a Senate committee in September, creating a route for publishers to negotiate collectively with large platforms. It later advanced again in the Senate Judiciary Committee as a publisher bargaining measure, keeping the U.S. dispute active.

Subsequent Canadian coverage made Meta’s negotiating posture concrete: it said it would block news if Canada’s proposed law took effect, while Google and Meta signaled parallel withdrawal threats. The U.S. threat therefore matters as a test of whether platforms answer mandated payment negotiations by limiting news distribution.

First-order effects

Meta puts publishers’ access to Facebook and Instagram distribution at risk if Congress enacts the bill, directly weakening the value of the collective-negotiation right the measure is designed to create.
Congress and Sen. Klobuchar face an explicit trade-off: advance a framework for publisher bargaining or confront Meta’s stated willingness to remove the affected content category.

Second-order effects

News organizations must weigh potential advertising-revenue gains from collective bargaining against the loss of platform reach if Meta follows through, complicating a unified negotiating position.
Google’s later participation in Canadian withdrawal warnings gives other major platforms a ready response to similar legislation, increasing the pressure on lawmakers to account for coordinated platform resistance.

Third-order effects

If withdrawal threats repeatedly accompany publisher-payment rules, news bargaining policy may shift from setting payment terms to determining whether platforms carry news at all.
The pattern points toward a more conditional relationship between platforms and publishers, in which news availability is negotiated alongside compensation rather than treated as a fixed feature of social apps.

The trend: Publisher-bargaining laws are turning news distribution on major platforms into a regulatory and commercial bargaining chip.

Discussion

@andymstone Andy Stone on x
Meta statement on the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act: https://twitter.com/...
@evan_greer @evan_greer on x
BREAKING: Instead of actually holding Big Tech accountable by moving #AICOA ands #OAMA antitrust bills we just got word @SenSchumer is planning to include the #JCPA, a terrible bill messes with the basics of how the Internet works & benefits Rupert Murdoch, in the must-pass NDAA.
@econliberties @econliberties on x
This is the same kind of government extortion that Facebook tried in Australia and Canada - which didn't work. In blackmailing yet another government, Facebook is proving again why it is a threat to democracies worldwide. US lawmakers should ignore this intimidation. https://twit…
@mattyglesias Matthew Yglesias on x
Is it just trolling to think this might be better for everyone? https://twitter.com/...
@scottbrodbeck Scott Brodbeck on x
So not only are indie outlets going to, at best, get thrown scraps should this hedge-fund-driven legislation pass, it will also cut off a significant source of readership and discovery. Glad that @LIONPubs, NNPA and others have come out against it https://texasmetronews.com/... h…
@juddlegum Judd Legum on x
.@Facebook/@Meta derides news as “content users don't want to see.” They are threatening to remove all news from Facebook if Congress passes a bill they don't like. https://twitter.com/...
@bgrueskin Bill Grueskin on x
The US bill still faces a lot of challenges in getting passed — esp as the clock ticks down on this session. But if the Breitbart report pans out, the prospects for passage are a lot better now than a few days ago.
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
Facebook is opposing a piece of legislation that would actually force ad monopolists to stop stealing ad money and bargain with newspapers. https://t.co/xfmW7WcFTG
@scottbrodbeck Scott Brodbeck on x
It's going to become even harder to launch a new local publication should FB nix all news. Of course, this is what the large newspaper publishers with increasingly thin local coverage want.
@__gabbymiller Gabby Miller on x
meta's now using the same playbook in the US—threatening to pull news from FB—that they used in Australia and Canada. no evidence it's been effective in either country so far as Canada's #C18 looks likely to pass regardless. https://twitter.com/...
@bendreyfuss Ben Dreyfuss on x
A lot of journalists seem to be keen to this idea and I would just warn it would mean a lot of people would get fired! Facebook still is really important to the business plan of most media outlets! It's not as important as it once was, but it's still really really important
@dicktofel Richard Tofel🥬 on x
Google hates the JCPA as much as Facebook, I'm sure. But I don't think you will see them threaten to remove news from search. This contrast tells you a lot about how the owners of these two platforms see their future differently.
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
I'm all in favor of Congress taking money from tech companies and giving it to news media. But laws that try to do that by distorting other areas of law and creating bizarro unintended consequences? Including favoring big media players over small? Those are not the way.
@bgrueskin Bill Grueskin on x
More so than Google, Facebook (parent: Meta) at a certain point became hostile to doing deals with news orgs ( even a big, public broadcaster) in Australia. From that government's just-issued report: https://treasury.gov.au/... https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
If you want newspapers to get money that does not come from any *economic* value they create, be honest, and create a subsidy. If you want another group of companies to pay for this, be honest, and create a tax.
@elkmovie Michael Love on x
I'm not necessarily opposed to the JCPA, but passing that and *not* the other two bills seems... odd, to say the least. (hopeful take is that they are planning to pass all 3 but aren't leaking the others because they don't want a bajillion dollars in anti-Warnock FB ads tomorrow)…
@jonschweppe Jon Schweppe on x
Very smart tactic here, but 1.) it's a BLUFF — Meta needs news more than news needs Meta, and 2.) it's a BLUFF — Meta tried this in Australia and it backfired, so they caved soon after https://www.bbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ewerickson Erick Erickson on x
Facebook is right on this. The JCPA is a ridiculously dumb piece of legislation that every conservative should oppose. Welfare for the media that hates them is the dumbest thing ever — keep in business the press that regularly smears the GOP. https://twitter.com/...
@fboversight @fboversight on x
If ever there was an illustration of Facebook's market dominance, it's this: Facebook threatens Congress saying it will pull news from its platform if Congress passes the JCPA. Not every company in America has that kind of bargaining power. Facebook should be broken up. https://t…
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
I write a weekly email newsletter with 175k subscribers. Every week I have 20-30 links. Do I have to pay all of them? “No, only Google and Meta have to pay. And they only have to pay the newspapers. And the newspapers decide the price. And they ignore the value of the traffic.” h…
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Bluffing. This is where I remind everyone Facebook spent 9 months plotting to cause chaos in Australia before retreating and then threatened Canada, too. And they've done this under a misleading narrative to protect profits and disregard public. Google took opposite approach. 1/3…
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
I don't particularly like Meta or Google. By all means tax them and subsidise newspapers. I like newspapers. But I hate the grotesque intellectual dishonesty of this idea. And the secretive and corrupt way it was implemented in Australia is not a coincidence
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
Congress is about to pass a really problematic piece of legislation, the JCPA, by adding it to a must-pass defense spending bill. A serious lineup of signatories to this letter oppose it: @ACLU, @publicknowledge, @CenDemTech, @eff, @Wikimedia & more. https://publicknowledge.org/ …
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
Mark Zuckerberg might be focused on the Metaverse but the core Facebook product of political blackmail is still functional. https://twitter.com/...
@bendreyfuss Ben Dreyfuss on x
I think this act is stupid but I also think it would be totally funny and potentially good for society if Facebook banned news all together https://twitter.com/...
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Facebook without news sounds... good. Do it guys. https://twitter.com/...
@mattdpearce @mattdpearce on x
I've been tweeting about JCPA for months but I guess “Mark Zuckerberg threatens to pull news off Facebook” will finally get people's attention. https://twitter.com/...
@viacristiano Cristiano Lima on x
🚨 This is big: Meta is threatening to remove “news from our platform altogether” if Congress passes JCPA https://twitter.com/...
@mattdpearce @mattdpearce on x
I would normally have feelings about Meta threatening to yank journalism off Facebook over JCPA if JCPA were in a form journalists actually support. Instead, we'll get to watch the publishers who are hiring scabs to break strikes call themselves victims.
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
What is interesting here is Facebook either 1) believes the legislation may pass this month or 2) wanted to create massive controversy to shift focus on this bill versus the other two antitrust bills. EU and UK must be feeling left out as they haven't been threatened yet? https:/…
@owillis Oliver Willis on x
just a cursory look but this thing seems like a *terrible* idea https://twitter.com/...
@mh4oh Morgan Harper on x
Facebook's paid talking head is against the JCPA because they know it will take money away from them and put it where it belongs—with journalists. https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
“Links have value to the linker so they Should be paid for!” Hmm. I write links. Actually, so do newspapers. Do we pay? “No, only Google & Meta!” Hmm. So they pay everyone they link to? “No, only newspapers!” There's no general principle of competition here - just rent-seeking
@tomfelle Tom Felle on x
Interesting and a strong response from @Meta here. Clearly they would do the same in Europe if the Media Freedom Act passes. Which is why I've always argued that taxing digital advertising revenue is a better approach. https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
There's nothing wrong in principle with taxes or subsidies. But it is terrible policy to create taxes and subsidies while pretending that's not what you're doing.
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
And instead of confronting this, the people behind this produce entirely delusional arguments “Google would pay to link if it didn't have market power!” I don't have market power. I don't pay to link. No-one has ever paid to link. Have these people ever used the internet?
@jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x
#JCPA is terrible legislation that benefits hedge fund owners with lobbyists and failed companies with no strategies. It leaves out new and small entries across America that are building the real future of journalism. It is corrupt. It is wrong. Call your rep now. 4/
@mikewehner Myke on x
Remember when Facebook blatantly lied about the reach of video content? Many outlets built themselves around serving what Facebook said its users liked. Shame those metrics were fraudulent and people lost jobs. But yeah let's all pretend Facebook is somehow good for journalism. h…
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
I happened to be on a call this morning about the EU analog of this law (the Media Freedom Act) with a colleague who is given to understatement. For that reason, I wrote it down when he said “This is not the European model generally, or the model of liberal democracies.”
@kyleorl Kyle Orland on x
Don't threaten me with a good etc. https://twitter.com/...
@mclendaniel Morgan Clendaniel on x
This is a little rich for those of us old enough to remember both “the day Facebook turned the traffic firehose on for no discernible reason” and then also “the day Facebook turned the traffic firehose off with no warning or explanation.” https://twitter.com/...
@fernandorgallo Fernando Gallo on x
They said the same thing about Australia, force them to do it and then break 'em up https://twitter.com/...
@jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x
Here's a nightmare scenario for sustainability in journalism: The #JCPA passes—along with similar bills in Canada, NZ, et al—and Google, forced to pay baksheesh, pulls back from the Google News Initiative, which supports so many startups & innovators. 1/
@maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x
Oof. #JCPA is a horrible bill. It's an antitrust exemption—which should always set off alarm bells—that further strengthens the handful of billionaires and hedge funds ruining journalism. It will do nothing for smaller publishers except break their site's functionality. https://t…
@jeffhorwitz Jeff Horwitz on x
There is a sense among people pushing for link payments that Meta wants news content on FB and IG. Per recent reporting by my colleague @keachhagey, the company has not been behaving that way of late. https://twitter.com/...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
The Australian government just came out with a report showing how such legislation actually works to help local journalism. https://treasury.gov.au/...
@bgrueskin Bill Grueskin on x
Congress is moving toward passing a bill that would force FB and Google to pay news orgs — similar to the scheme in Australia. And Facebook is making the same threats here in the US that they made in Australia — taking news off the platform. (FB caved a few days later.) https://t…
@jaysvoboda Jay Svoboda on x
Honestly, pulling all news and news-related content off Facebook would be the single greatest contribution to society Facebook could ever make. https://twitter.com/...
@oliverdarcy Oliver Darcy on x
News Media Alliance responds: “Facebook's threat to take down news is undemocratic and unbecoming.” https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@bendreyfuss Ben Dreyfuss on x
It would not be good for journalists in terms of their ability to be employed and pay for food and rent but it might be good for society for people to be forcibly weened off their destructive addiction to the newscycle
@m_wacker Mike Wacker on x
I know good people on both sides of the JCPA debate, but coercive threats like this are completely unacceptable. Even the legislators who vote against the JCPA should hold this sort of conduct against Meta/Facebook. https://twitter.com/...
@courtneyr Dr. Courtney Radsch on x
I know that many digital rights orgs are up in arms about the #JCPA approach, but it really doesn't seem like it will do much one way or the other, though it's better than an earlier version, and will at least send a signal that content isn't free
@cameronwilson Cameron Wilson on x
Australians when they see Facebook threaten to stop news content in another country. ["First Time?" meme]
@jeffjarvis Jeff Jarvis on x
In that scenario, the big, old, failed, hedge-fund-owned news companies with lobbyists get Google's money under force. Facebook already pulled its money for journalism and now threatens to pull news from the platform if #JCPA passes. 2/
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
Facebook just threatened to remove news from their platforms in the U.S. if Congress actually allows newspapers to form coops to bargain with Big Tech. https://twitter.com/...

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