California leaders must stop Google from restricting your news
Google’s decision to begin removing links to California news sites from search results not only threatens the economics of independent journalism, it also prevents citizens and communities from accessing essential news and information.
Google is trying to harm for-profit and nonprofit news outlets by striking out against California legislation that would compel tech giants to share digital advertising revenues with the news outlets that produce the content that Google users want and need.
By withholding news, Google is abusing its near-monopoly power over internet searches. When independent news begins to disappear in this so-called information age, citizens, communities and democracy are all threatened.
Google Vice President Jaffer Zaidi on Friday announced a “testing process” of removing links to California news sites for some of its users. This notso-veiled threat to write California journalism out of its algorithm makes the case for why Google’s business practices must be reformed by the state legislature.
“Numerous countries worldwide have passed journalism compensation laws to recognize journalism’s vital role in a democracy,” said Billie McConkey, chief administrative officer for McClatchy, which owns The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee, The Modesto Bee, the Merced Sun-Star and the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
“This is typical of how the dominant tech platforms have responded. They would rather block citizens’ access to essential information than simply pay fair market value for the content from which they profit.”
GOOGLE’S TARGET
At issue is Assembly Bill 886 by Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland.
Known as the California Journalism Preservation Act, AB 886 would establish an arbitration process between large platforms like Google and qualifying journalism providers. Arbiters would decide how much of the platform’s journalism-related profits should be proportionately shared with news organizations and require that at least 70% of those funds be spent directly on future news gathering.
McClatchy, the California News Publishers Association and the Media Guild of the West are among the supporters of this legislation.
Introduced last year, AB 886 met with fierce opposition from Meta and Google. While the bill cleared the Assembly, Wicks and state Senate Judiciary
Committee Chairman Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, agreed in July to re-engage on the measure this session after holding an informational hearing in December.
In a recent interview, Wicks was optimistic about the legislation’s prospects. “Since I introduced the bill, it’s only got more dire,” she said of continued layoffs and economic challenges facing news organizations. “I’d like to ideally land something on the governor’s desk … that will result in the platforms paying their fair share and leveling the playing field for our publishers.”
A PATTERN OF THREATS
Google’s initial steps to excise California journalism from its search results are the latest in a series of disturbing threats and actions by the platform giants.