California House OKs plan to have tech platforms pay news outlets, with 70% going to journalism; Meta issues threat

"Despite threats by Meta to remove news from its platforms," the California House passed 55-6 a bill requiring tech platforms to pay news publishers a fee "based on the advertising revenue generated from the use of their content, to be determined by a neutral arbiter," The California News Publishers Association reports. The bill "seeks to finally level the playing field between Big Tech and journalism providers, no matter their size," CNPA says. "Additionally, the bill requires that 70 percent of revenue from the bill go back into newsrooms and journalism jobs." The lobbying group adds, "This bill will ensure the future of journalism and our role in democracy."

Lobbying by Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA, resulted in the bill requiring more transparency about use of the money, and steering it more to newsroom jobs. The bill, which passed Thursday, is not assured of passage in the state Senate, because the tech platforms didn't have much of a lobbying presence until the bill hit the House floor, and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom hasn't weighed in on it yet.