It’s Time for Big Tech to Stand Up for Journalism
The California State Legislature wrapped up its work. It passed several bills that will drastically reshape our state and country. The California Journalism Protection Act was not among them. This is a missed opportunity.
In a world that once celebrated the internet’s promise of connectivity, shared experiences and equal access to information, social media has undergone a disheartening transformation. Algorithms amplify divisive content that drives us apart, big social media companies sell our data to advertisers and we see less content from our friends and more from people we don’t know.
Now, big social media and technology companies are turning off access to news in entire countries. They recently threatened to do the same here in California. Social media and technology companies are doing this because they refuse to compensate news outlets fairly — and all other creators for that matter — for their work. While they protect their bottom line, public safety and democracy suffer.
That is precisely why legislators in California and across the country must double down and pass legislation that requires all social media and technology companies to provide fair compensation to news outlets.
In recent years, countries have introduced and passed legislation requiring platforms and search engines to compensate news organizations for their content and to support journalism. Australia has had success with its law and legislators are looking to follow their lead.
Canada passed their version of the law — the Online News Act — earlier this summer. Nearly half of Canadians and Americans utilize social media as a news and information source. Now, Canadians using Facebook and Instagram cannot view content from local Canadian and international news outlets.
California was on a similar path, introducing the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) that required tech giants to pay a share of their advertising revenues to news outlets for posting their journalism on their platforms.
Platforms similarly threatened to block news content in California after the California State Assembly voted in favor of the CJPA. The legislation, however, did not advance. Proponents have said the legislation will now be brought up in next year’s session. As the CEO and Chairman of MeWe, a social media network with 20 million users worldwide, I believe this legislation is crucial and legislators cannot afford to back down.
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The CJPA would require social media and technology platforms to directly compensate publishers with a “journalism usage fee” based on the amount of advertising revenue the platform receives from accessing and displaying a publication’s content. The bill ensures that every publisher in California, no matter the size, will be fairly compensated when using news content. Furthermore, the bill requires that 70 percent of profits from the Act be invested in creating journalism jobs, ensuring newsrooms large and small will benefit.
When newsrooms are full, it’s the public and our democracy that reap the rewards.
Instead of sending a tiny portion of the $80 billion these companies amassed last year in the U.S. back to the print, digital and broadcast journalists and outlets — the content creators that bear the entire cost of the vital service of gathering and reporting the news — many of big social media and technology companies would rather throw the baby out with the bathwater, keep the money they’ve already made from our attention and shut it all off entirely.
We must stand up to them. I hope other social media and technology CEOs will join me in supporting the CJPA when it comes up again in next year’s legislative session.
Until then, I urge other social media business leaders to think about how their platforms navigate news and content. If your platforms use algorithms, consider if news is easily accessible to your users. Work with local news organizations to collaborate on how to responsibly disseminate news and other information that helps support journalism.
Leaders could also evaluate how platforms could support journalists and creators so they can monetize their work and be compensated. It could be a number of tools that allow journalists and creators to promote their work, whether it’s paid newsletters or substacks. It could also be a fairer incentive structure that encourages new work and content.
At MeWe, we do not advertise on our platform; but we are still finding ways to help support creators and their work. Over the past year, we have been working on transitioning to a decentralized social network to give creators more control over their work. We’ve seen how creators and artists have leveraged decentralized technologies like NFTs to monetize their work. We are only at the beginning of this process and are excited about the possibilities that could unlock value for all creators. We invite others to join us in exploring the possibilities in this future.
It goes to the heart of our democracy. A government of, for and by the people requires an informed citizenry. Social media companies are where people go for news, and our platforms should allow people to share news that informs their families, friends and communities, particularly when it comes to information that can save lives. When democracy thrives, so do our businesses.