New Bill would allow Digital Publishers and Newspapers to negotiate with Big Tech

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On Wednesday, a bipartisan bill reintroduced and it would allow digital publishers and newspapers to collectively negotiate fees with Big Tech companies like Facebook and Google. Republican Senator John Kennedy and Democrat Amy Klobuchar reintroduced the 2019 Journalism Competition and Preservation Act. The move came after some countries including Australia and France pushed Big Tech companies to consider paying for news that they showcase on their respective websites to help fund the news industry. Point to be noted that Klobuchar is a constant critic of Big Tech. She issued a statement on Wednesday and said, “We must enable news organizations to negotiate on a level playing field with the Big Tech companies if we want to preserve a strong and independent press”.

Klobuchar added, “This bipartisan legislation will improve the quality of reporting and ensure that journalists are able to continue their critical work. US media outlets need a fighting chance when negotiating for fair treatment by the digital platforms where so many Americans consume their news”. The bill says the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act creates a 4-year safe harbor from antitrust laws for print or digital news companies to collectively negotiate with online content distributors regarding the terms on which the news companies’ content may be distributed by online content distributors. It is noteworthy that Google, Facebook, and Amazon take up an estimated two-thirds of global digital ad spend. Google announced agreements in February to pay publishers in Australia.

The move came after the country passed a law that would allow the country’s government to set the price of deals with news outlets if negotiations failed between tech companies and publishers. In February, Facebook said it had blocked users in the country from viewing or sharing news in retaliation of the law. The social giant terminated the week-long news blackout on 25^th February after it reached commercial agreements with 3 local publishers including Schwartz Media, Solstice Media, and Private Media. Kennedy issued a statement and said, “Newspapers are locked in a life-or-death struggle with tech giants like Google and Facebook, and it’s not a fair fight. Local papers have continued to deliver news despite declines in circulation, but readers are losing out as their options for news coverage evaporate”.