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Google argues that paying news organizations for content under California’s bill is “unfeasible.”
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CNN
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Google announced in a blog post Friday that it will remove links to news websites in California in response to a state bill that would require big tech companies to pay news organizations for their content.
Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet (GOOGL), said the measure would only affect a small portion of California users and that the company is conducting a “test” to measure “the law’s impact on our product experience.” ” was said to be aimed at. ”
The California Journalism Protection Act was introduced in March 2023 and is still awaiting a hearing by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, but the California Journalism Protection Act, which is still awaiting a hearing by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, allows digital platforms such as Google and Meta to restrict covered news organizations from using their content. You will be required to pay a “journalism fee.” Alongside digital advertising.
Mehta did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
The bill comes as more people are shifting from finding and consuming news through traditional media to social and online platforms. The bill was introduced amid concerns that companies’ news aggregation practices could drive users away from news websites, giving platforms increasingly greater control over the content users are allowed to see. We are sounding the alarm on what is happening.
On Friday night, the bill’s co-author and supporter, California Sen. Mike McGuire, called the move an act of “bullying” and an “abuse of power.”
“This is a dangerous threat by Google that not only sets a terrible precedent here in the United States, but also puts public safety at risk for Californians who rely on news for life-threatening emergencies and local public safety incidents. A thing,” he wrote. Previously he was known as Twitter for his posts on X. “This is a violation of public trust, and we will hold Google executives accountable for this action.”
Lawmakers and supporters of the bill argue that while big tech benefits from sharing the content of small local news publishers, publishers do not reap the same financial benefits. ing.
“These dominant digital advertising companies enrich their platforms with local news content without adequately compensating callers,” said Rep. Buffy Wicks, co-author of the bill. This was stated in a statement in March 2023, when this bill was first introduced. Start paying market value for the journalism you collect for free from local media outlets. ”
Charles F. Champion, president and CEO of the California News Publishers Association, said Google is suppressing news in California.
“The fact that a single company can shut down the way 90% of the population finds online content to achieve their own political and business goals highlights how policymakers need to act and act now. ” he posted on X on Friday. “Google is not above the law and should not be allowed to act like it is.”
“Google’s threat to deny critical information to Californians in response to proposed legislation is outrageous,” Chris Argentieri, president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Times, told CNN in a statement Saturday. ” he said. “Google’s response is indeed another data point that supports the need for the bill and shows the benefit of the scrutiny Google is receiving from the U.S. Department of Justice. California rejects this type of bullying tactic. There is a long history of this, and I fully expect that this case will not change the outcome.”
Google has long opposed what it calls a “link tax.”
“As we shared when other countries considered similar proposals, the uncapped financial exposure that the CJPA would create would be unfeasible,” Jaffer Zaidi, Google’s vice president of global news partnerships, said Friday. mentioned in a blog post. “If enacted in its current form, the CJPA would create a level of business uncertainty that is unacceptable to any company.”
Alphabet reported 2023 sales of $307.4 billion.
Google opposed a similar bill passed in Canada in June 2023, writing at the time that it would “remove links to Canadian News from Canadian Search, News, and Discover products.” In November, the company said in an update that it was “working through the waiver process.”” “We will continue to drive valuable traffic to Canadian publishers” until the details are finalized in consultation with the Canadian government.
Google told CNN in a statement on Saturday that it is still working through the exemption process, but did not specify the current status of its discussions with the Canadian government.
The company had a similar reaction to a 2021 Australian law requiring platforms to compensate Australian news organizations for the use of their content. In January 2021, months before the law was passed, Google wrote in an open letter: ”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which drafted the bill, said Google ultimately reached “voluntary commercial agreements with a significant number of news organizations.” Google said at the time that instead of paying for links, it would pay publishers through Google News Showcase.
