The News/Media Alliance, formerly the Newspaper Association of America, asked US federal agencies to investigate Google’s removal of links to California media outlets. Google’s tactic is a response to the proposed California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), which would require it and other tech companies to pay for links to news content from California-based publishers.
The News/Media Alliance, which It represents more than 2,200 publishers, letters sent toward Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and Attorney General of the State of California on Tuesday. He says the removal «appears to be coercive or retaliatory, prompted by Google’s opposition to a pending legislative measure in Sacramento.»
The CJPA would require Google and other tech platforms to pay California media outlets in exchange for links. The proposed bill approved the state Assembly last year.
in a blog post Last week, in announcing the removal, Google’s vice president of global news partnerships, Jaffer Zaidi, warned that the CJPA is «the wrong approach to supporting journalism» (because Google’s current approach has left no the industry in smoking ruins!). Zaidi said the CJPA «would also put small publishers at a disadvantage and limit consumers’ access to a diverse ecosystem of local media.» There’s nothing to see here, folks: just your friendly neighborhood multi-million dollar company taking care of the little guy!
Google described the removal of its link as a test to see how the bill would affect its platform:
«To prepare for potential CJPA implications, we are beginning a short-term trial for a small percentage of California users,» Zaidi wrote. “The testing process involves removing links to California news websites, potentially covered by the CJPA, to measure the legislation’s impact on our experience with the product. Until there is clarity on California’s regulatory environment, we are also suspending new investments in the California news ecosystem, including new partnerships through Google News Showcase, our product and licensing program for news organizations, and planned expansions of the Google News Initiative.
In its letters, The News/Media Alliance lists several laws it believes Google may be violating with the «short-term» removal. Potential federal violations include the Lanham Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act. The letter to California’s attorney general cites the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, regulations against false advertising and misrepresentation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
“Importantly, Google did not release further details about how many Californians will be affected, how Californians who will be denied access to news were chosen, which publications will be affected, how long mandatory news blackouts will persist, and whether the Access will be blocked completely. or simply for content that Google particularly dislikes,” News/Media Alliance President and CEO Danielle Coffey wrote in the letter to the Justice Department and the FTC. «Because of these unknowns, there are many ways Google’s unilateral decision to shut down access to news websites for Californians could violate laws.»
Google has a mixed record when it comes to addressing similar legislation. It pulled Google News out of Spain for seven years in response to local copyright laws that would have required licensing payments to publishers. Anyway, that signed deals worth about $150 million to pay Australian publishers and regressed from threats to remove news from search results in Canada, instead spending the $74 million required by the Online News Act.
Google made more than $73 billion in profits in 2023. The company currently has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion.
