Meta threatens to remove news from Facebook

Meta’s head of policy communications, Andy Stone tweeted Monday that Facebook would remove news off its US platform if Congress passes the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA).

The company’s response was due to the News Media Alliance—a trade group representing newspaper publishers—lobbying Congress to add the JCPA bill to the defense spending plan. The group argues, “If Congress does not act soon, we risk allowing social media to become America’s de facto local newspaper.”

What is JCPA?
If passed, the JCPA would allow publishers and news organizations to have content distribution negotiations with social media giants like Google and Facebook. This bill was introduced in 2021 with bipartisan support.

Facebook and news payments
Facebook has fiercely fought not to pay for news on its platform for many years. It has even pulled news off its platform in Canada and Australia in the past over similar legislation.

But…
A total of 26 organizations have written to lawmakers to vote against the bill. They pointed out the fact that the bill does not require “funds gained through negotiation or arbitration” to be paid to journalists.