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Meta says it may remove news from platform if U.S. Congress passes media bill

Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on smartpone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Intagram, Whatsapp, Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. (Reuters)

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. threatened to remove news off its platform on Monday if the U.S. Congress approves a measure to make it simpler for news organizations to bargain collectively with corporations like Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook.

According to informed sources, lawmakers are considering including the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act in a defense measure that must be passed each year in order to support the ailing local journalism sector.

In a tweet, Meta representative Andy Stone stated that if the law was implemented, the firm would have to decide between eliminating news and complying with government-mandated talks that unfairly discount the value we offer to news publishers through increased traffic and subscriptions.

He added the proposal fails to recognize that publishers and broadcasters put content on the platform because "it benefits their bottom line - not the other way around."

The News Media Alliance, a trade group representing newspaper publishers, is urging Congress to add the bill to the defense bill, arguing that "local papers cannot afford to endure several more years of Big Tech's use and abuse, and time to take action is dwindling. If Congress does not act soon, we risk allowing social media to become America's de facto local newspaper."

More than two dozen groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Knowledge and the Computer & Communications Industry Association on Monday urged Congress not to approve the local news bill saying it would "create an ill-advised antitrust exemption for publishers and broadcasters" and argued the bill does not require "funds gained through negotiation or arbitration will even be paid to journalists."

A similar Australian law, which took effect in March 2021 after talks with the big tech firms led to a brief shutdown of Facebook news feeds in the country, has largely worked, a government report said.

Since the News Media Bargaining Code took effect, various tech firms including Meta and Alphabet have signed more than 30 deals with media outlets, compensating them for content that generated clicks and advertising dollars, the report added.

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