Bill to aid US publishers vs. Google, Facebook rises again

A congressional effort to bolster U.S. news organizations in negotiations with Big Tech has supporters hoping that third time's the charm.

The bill, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, was introduced in March for the third time since 2018. Its odds of passage may have improved in a Democrat-run Congress that's working on overhauling antitrust laws.

Australia and other countries have started pushing mechanisms to support news publishers against Facebook and Google, which dominate online advertising. Publishers argue that Big Tech squeezes news organizations out of digital ad revenue and exerts undue control over who can see their journalism.

The bill would offer a four-year antitrust exemption to publishers so they can negotiate as a group with “dominant online platforms.” Facebook and Google get the majority of online ad dollars in the U.S. The measure aims to give publishers better leverage with the tech companies, while only allowing coordination that benefits the news industry as a whole, amid a long-running decline in local news.

Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat and one of the bill's sponsors, said in prepared remarks for a hearing earlier this month that the legislation would provide news publishers an “even playing field” to negotiate deals with major tech platforms. The news industry is struggling with falling revenues, shrinking newsrooms and failing publications — which Cicilline and others call a threat to democracy — while Google and Facebook rack up billions in profits.

“This bill is a life support measure, not the answer for ensuring the long-term health of the news industry,” the congressman said.

While the bill has Republican cosponsors in both the House and Senate, some Republicans in the same hearing expressed reservations. Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio...