REAL TALK

NEWS POLITICS

California Lawmakers Propose Bill to Force Tech Giants to Pay for News Content

ByAlki David

Mar 22, 2023

California lawmakers are pushing back against big tech companies such as Facebook and Google by proposing a bill that would require them to pay for the use of news content from publishers. The proposed legislation, known as the California Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, would also mandate that publishers reinvest the fees collected from tech companies in journalism jobs.

This bill closely resembles a federal bill that was previously introduced, which aimed to allow publishers to negotiate content distribution terms with tech giants collectively. However, this bill faced strong opposition from the digital ad behemoths, who claimed that it would submit them to “government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard any value we provide to news outlets.”

The proposed California bill is the first of its kind at the state level and could ignite another major standoff between Silicon Valley and media groups. The bill’s authors argue that it is necessary to address the news industry’s decline and loss of advertising revenue to tech giants, such as Facebook and Google.

In recent years, many countries have proposed or implemented rules aimed at forcing tech companies to share their advertising revenue with traditional publishers. However, such efforts have met with significant resistance from the digital ad giants. For example, Meta (formerly Facebook) threatened to remove news content from its platform if a federal proposal to this effect was passed.

Similarly, Google threatened to block news content in its search engine in Canada earlier this year in response to a similar proposal. The companies issued similar threats in response to new rules in Australia.

If passed, the California bill would represent a significant shift in the balance of power between tech companies and media groups. Although there is no guarantee that it will pass, the proposed legislation is likely to intensify the ongoing debate over the relationship between big tech and the news industry.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.