Meta and Google are threatening to block news content in California. This comes in response to a proposed state law known as the ‘California Journalism Preservation Act’. The act is currently under consideration in the Senate. It would require advertising giants like Meta and Google to pay a fee for news content.
Publishers would be required to reinvest that money into jobs for journalists. Meta and Google are already blocking news content in Canada, where voters passed a similar law. For example, say there’s a wildfire and someone posts an alert from a news outlet on FaceBook or Instagram, an error would pop up saying that article can’t be shared. State Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire co-authored the act.