Summary
- Google opposes California Journalism Preservation Act, fearing it will harm the news industry and lead to lower-quality content.
- Legislators have proposed a link tax on news content readers, causing Google to consider removing links to impacted sites.
- Meta, like Google, made a business decision to block news in response to similar legislation in Canada.
There has been an ongoing debate over how news publications and journalists should be credited for digital content since the emergence of the internet. Some so-called solutions often rely on a paywall, which has its own pitfalls, in addition to being a turn-off to readers. As of late, legislators have been looking at the concept of taxing readers who tap on a link to read news content as a means of compensation. Now, it seems like Google has a problem with it — just as California looks to enact its own “link tax.”
Meta is blocking news in Canada to avoid paying publishers
It’s a ‘business decision’ for Facebook and Instagram
In an update posted to the company blog, Google recently shared its stance on the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) that has been proposed in the state. If approved, the legislation will ultimately result in the taxation of any entities — including the company — that connect Californians to news content. According to the bill, the goal is to ensure that publishers are compensated for their work. In the past decade, newsroom staff has decreased 44 percent, per information cited in the bill. However, Google believes the act would do more harm than good if it goes into effect.
How Google plans to respond to the act
Specifically, Google claims that the CJPA would “undermine” news within the state, and the news industry would be worse off as a whole. It also believes that media conglomerates are lobbying for the bill to pass, and it could give them the opportunity to gobble up local publications. Over time, the company thinks the end result will be lower-quality content. As the legislation has gone through the revisal process, Google says it has suggested alternative measures.
With the bill inching closer to becoming a reality, the company has announced that it will begin to remove links to California news websites that could be impacted. It says the goal is to determine how the law would affect its “product experience,” but it’s already evident that Californians would be the ultimate losers in this case, with increasingly limited news access. Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — made a similar “business decision” in 2023 pertaining to legislation in Canada. The Online News Act was drafted to ensure news companies are compensated by large businesses that distribute their content. Meta opted out and pulled all news from its platforms in Canada, and it looks like Google may follow suit in response to the CJPA. Business decision or not, such moves do not negate the fact that these companies are negatively impacting news readers along the way.
