FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Arlington, VA – Today the California Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an Informational Hearing on “The Importance of Journalism in the Digital Age.” Senator Tom Umberg is holding the Hearing to give California legislators the opportunity to learn more about the state of journalism in the state, the challenges local newsrooms face and potential solutions, and how the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886) in particular can help support a vibrant free press.

The CJPA would require Big Tech platforms such as Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram) and Google to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee” to use the content of eligible digital journalism providers, as defined in the bill. Currently, creators of journalistic and creative content are not adequately compensated for the use of their work that takes a tremendous investment to produce.

The CJPA was introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) in March and passed out of the California State Assembly in June in a floor vote of 46-6 before it was held over to the next session. The Informational Hearing will provide legislators the opportunity to ask questions and provide input before the bill is brought up early in the next session in 2024.

“We applaud Assemblymember Wicks and Senator Umberg for their commitment to sustaining journalism and their dedication to the California Journalism & Preservation Act (CJPA),” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “By holding this informational hearing and having an open dialogue, they are showing their ardent commitment to preserving quality local journalism that supports a healthy democracy and providing their constituents with important information about their communities. Without meaningful action, news outlets will continue to disappear.”

News outlets, especially small, local ones, are shuttering at alarming rates as revenues decline and costs rise. California has lost more than 100 newspapers in the last decade.

A new report from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University last month raised the level of urgency surrounding the local news crisis, finding that one-third of the newspapers in the U.S. in 2005 will be gone by 2024. Previous reports had estimated the timeline to reach that milestone would occur in 2025, which indicates that the pace of closures has accelerated. Most of the communities that lose their local newspaper do not get a replacement or have a digital source for local news for their community.

When local newspapers shutter, there is a significant detrimental effect on communities whereby civic engagement goes down, corruption goes up, and the ability to combat disinformation grows increasingly difficult.

When newsrooms are full, the public reaps the rewards. The CJPA would also promote the hiring of more journalists, requiring news publishers to invest 70 percent of the profits from the usage fee into journalism jobs.

The News/Media Alliance has been vocally advocating for legislation at the federal level since 2018. The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which was reintroduced by Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) on March 31 (S. 1094), passed through Senate Judiciary Committee markup in June.

The dominant tech platforms have become de facto gatekeepers of journalism, setting rules for how news content is displayed, prioritized, and monetized. They reap the majority of the financial benefits of sharing publishers’ original content without incurring any of the costs of gathering and reporting news their users want and rely on. The CJPA and JCPA directly address these challenges and are a crucial part of the solution to preserving local journalism.

Coffey added, “With similar laws being passed around the world, we are seeing more and more support for getting this legislation passed countrywide. We must act now to protect and support publishers of high-quality journalism, who work tirelessly to keep our communities safe and informed through their reporting. We look forward to the CJPA moving to a Senate vote next year and working with policymakers in California to implement the CJPA and restore fairness and balance to the marketplace.”

For more information on the federal JCPA, visit www.JCPABill.com.

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Media contact:
Lindsey Loving
Director, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,200 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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Big tech company Meta, which owns Facebook, has over the years changed course in its relationship with news more times than we can count, pushing news publishers away one moment and pulling them back the next to serve their interests, with little regard for the detrimental impact to publishers, journalism, and readers. This timeline illustrates how Meta has literally flipped from one side to the complete opposite, sometimes in the span of days, and how they have stated their intent to prioritize news, only to cast it off later as old news.

2015

Facebook helps drive traffic to news with Instant Articles, but then takes it away when legislation requiring them to pay publishers starts moving through Congress.

LIKE: In May 2015, Facebook began testing “instant articles” on its platform by directly hosting articles rather than linking off to the news publisher’s site, paying publishers ad revenue. Read more.

DISLIKE: In October 2022 it was announced that Facebook would be ending support of instant articles, scaling back on investments for news. Read more.

2016

Facebook shows off news Curation team, then cuts it when they come under fire for the practice.

DISLIKE: In May 2016, it was revealed that Facebook was using staff to manage the news that appeared in the “trending” section, sifting through terms that the algorithm produced giving them a value based on whether they were reported by major news outlets. Read more.

LIKE: In August 2016, Facebook cut the “curation team” after criticism of bias and took steps to ensure the section would show popular content using algorithms. Read more.

2017

Facebook contracted with news publishers to create live video for them, then abandoned it.

LIKE: In 2016, Facebook signed contracts with nearly 140 media companies and celebrities to pay them to create live video for its Facebook Live service. Read more.

DISLIKE: Less than a year later, in January 2017, it was reported that Facebook was de-emphasizing live video, instead moving toward long-form video content. Read more.

2018

Facebook deprioritizes news in its “Feed,” then says trusted news content will be prioritized.

DISLIKE: In January 2018, Facebook announced that a user’s News Feed would feature more content from family and friends at the top, rather than news content, to maximize content with “meaningful interaction.” Read more.

LIKE: Facebook announces another change just one week later, saying after research showed 56% of users said they wanted to see more local news on Facebook, that news shown on a user’s Feed would be prioritized based on if it is considered high-quality, “trusted news content.”

2019

Facebook launched a special News tab in the U.S. to feature news publisher content, then took it away when legislation around the world requiring tech platforms to pay for news gained momentum.

LIKE: In October 2019, Facebook decides once again to befriend news publishers, launching a dedicated News tab – paying publishers to feature their content – to encourage users to consume news on its platform. Read more.

DISLIKE: In July 2022, Facebook announced it would not renew existing agreements with news publishers to feature their content on Facebook News, signaling that it intended to turn away from news yet again. Read more.

2021

In response to Australia’s intent to pass a law requiring Big Tech to pay news publishers, Meta removed news from Facebook. When the move backfired with the public, it restored news and began negotiations with publishers under the new law.

DISLIKE: On February 17, 2021, Meta removed news from Facebook in Australia in response to the country’s News Media Bargaining Code, which would require them to pay small, local publishers for use of their content. Read more.

LIKE: Again, just one week later, following public backlash for blocking important news and information from the platform, Meta reported that it had reached a deal with the Australian government and would restore news to Facebook in the country, as well as negotiate with publishers under the Code. Read more.

2022

Meta says it will remove news from Facebook in the U.S. if the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) becomes law.

DISLIKE: On December 5, 2022, Meta threatens to repeat its unsuccessful behavior from Australia, saying it would consider removing news in the U.S. if the JCPA (which at the time was included in the defense package set to pass at the end of the year), became law. The JCPA ultimately was not included in the defense bill. Read more.

2023

Meta threatens to remove news from Facebook in California if the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), a bill that would require dominant tech platforms to fairly compensate news publishers for use of their content, passes.

DISLIKE: On May 31, 2023, as the CJPA was headed to a Senate vote and was poised to become law, Meta, up to its usual tricks, threatened to pull news from Facebook if the bill passed, using its dominance to manipulate public policy to the detriment of journalism and Americans. Read more.

Now, Meta is removing news from Facebook in Canada in retaliation against the Online News Act (C-18), which would require them to negotiate with news publishers for payment for use of their valuable journalism.

We’ve seen this before. Facebook’s push and pull is harmful to publishers. Meta should not be allowed to get away with using our content for free.

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Arlington, VA – Eighty-four participants representing news publishers in 25 states across the country will meet with Senators and Representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. today as part of a Support Journalism Fly-In hosted by the News/Media Alliance, a nonprofit trade association representing more than 2,000 print and digital news and magazine publishers in the U.S. The Fly-In is being held to advocate for the importance of quality journalistic and creative content and the need for legislative action in the United States.

“Our members are here in Washington today because they are passionate about quality journalism, and right now its future is at risk,” stated News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “Current marketplace imbalances and economic headwinds have created an environment where quality is no longer rewarded, and intermediaries benefit at the expense of those who invest in the creative process.  If we allow this to continue, we will lose the invaluable benefits of a free press, which is critical to an informed society and a functional democracy.”

In their meetings with Members of Congress, publishers will discuss the need for fair compensation from the Big Tech platforms in the form of the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA, S. 1094); protection from unlawful scraping of content by artificial intelligence systems; tax credits such as those stipulated in the Community News and Small Business Support Act (H.R. 4756); and privacy legislation.

Executives representing news publishers of all sizes will be in attendance.

Chris Argentieri, President of California Times, which includes the Los Angeles Times stated, “In times of crisis, in times of curiosity, and in times of concern, people turn to news organizations they trust to provide guidance and information on the news of the day.”

Debby Krenek, Publisher, Newsday Media Group, LLC stated, “Newsday’s reporters are the lifeblood of our communities on Long Island and help establish the bedrock of a healthy democracy by informing and empowering all Long Islanders. Local journalism is not a luxury. It’s a necessity and it is under existential threat.”

Grant Moise, CEO of DallasNews Corporation and President & Publisher of The Dallas Morning News stated, “The Dallas Morning News employs over 600 people, and these colleagues’ dedication and hard work helps keep North Texans informed and empowered daily. In the digital age, journalism faces many threats. We are here to ask you to support our industry, not just for us, but for all Americans.”

Last night the Alliance recognized Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for her contributions to preserving quality journalism at a “Support Local Journalism” reception held at the Washington Post ‘s headquarters. Senator John Thune (R-SD) will also accept an award for his contributions to sustaining quality journalism at a meeting with publishers today.

Coffey added, “We appreciate the hard work and dedication of Senators Klobuchar, Kennedy and Thune, and we look forward to working with them to save local journalism so that future generations can rely on timely, vetted news and information that impact their daily lives.”

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Media Contact:
Lindsey Loving
Director, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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According to an analysis, The News Media Bargaining Code in Australia has resulted deals being reached between Meta and Google and publishers large and small that have allowed publishers to hire journalists, leading to what Australian journalists are saying is the best time to be a journalist. For example, The Guardian increased its newsroom employment from 70 to roughly 150 journalists, in large part due to revenue received under the Code, and the Australian Broadcasting Company announced in December 2021 that it was creating more than 50 journalist positions in regional locations as a result of the Code.

Without compensation from the Big Tech platforms for use of their content, and the tech platforms’ continued dominance over the majority of digital advertising revenue, U.S. publishers are left with scraps to invest in continuing to provide quality journalism. The Journalism Competition Preservation Act (JCPA), like the Australia Code, would create journalism jobs in the U.S., requiring the Big Tech platforms to compensate news publishers for use of their content, funneling needed revenue to publishers that can be used to hire reporters.

Local news reporters are members of the community and they work hard to deliver important news and information that their fellow community members want and need, as well as hold government officials and others in positions of power accountable. When you support journalism, you support your neighbor and your community by supporting job creation.

If Congress doesn’t pass the JCPA now, communities across America will continue to lose quality local, fact-based news coverage. When you support the JCPA, you support journalism and the creation of journalism jobs.

Contact your member of Congress today to support the JCPA and help sustain your local journalists and news publishers: 202.224.3121

Learn more about the JCPA

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Legislation around the world to require Big Tech platforms to pay news publishers for use of their content is working.

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Legislation around the world requiring Big Tech platforms such as Google and Meta to pay news publishers fairly for use of their valuable content is working. In Australia, the News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC) is balancing the playing field between publishers and online platforms, allowing for a more sustainable foundation for the preservation of high-quality journalism.

Right now in the U.S., Google and Facebook capture the vast majority (70%) of all digital advertising dollars, leaving publishers with insufficient resources to reinvest in providing the journalism Americans need and rely on to stay informed and engaged. Ad revenue for Facebook and Google is four times larger than for all U.S. news publishers combined. In addition, research has found that two-thirds of searches on Google don’t end in a click to a third-party site because they use large segments of publishers’ content to keep users from leaving their platform.

Small publishers on their own have no negotiating power to challenge the basic terms offered by the dominant tech platforms. Bipartisan legislation currently under consideration in the U.S., the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), like the NMBC, would allow local news companies to negotiate with Big Tech to receive fair compensation for the use of their content.

If Congress doesn’t pass the JCPA now, communities across America will continue to lose quality local, fact-based news coverage. When you support the JCPA, you support journalism and help to ensure news and quality journalism live to report another day.

Contact your member of Congress today to support the JCPA and help sustain your local journalists and news publishers: 202.224.3121

Learn more about the JCPA

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One-fifth of the population lives in a news desert or in a community at risk of becoming one.

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We sometimes take for granted that our local newspaper will always be there when we need it. But the stark reality is that one-quarter (2,500) of the country’s newspapers have shuttered since 2005, and another third are expected to close by 2025 if we don’t do something to reverse this startling trend. Lower-income communities are disproportionately impacted by the closure of local newspapers, which serve as a check on the local, state and federal governments.

When residents lose their local news source, they lose their community watchdog and their way to stay connected, informed and engaged about what’s happening in their community. Supporting quality journalism is the only way to stop the growth of news deserts.

The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) is a bipartisan bill that would allow local news companies to negotiate with Big Tech to ensure they are treated fairly and compensated justly, helping to sustain this critical function in our society. If Congress doesn’t pass the JCPA now, communities across America will continue to lose quality local, fact-based news coverage.

When you support the JCPA, you support journalism and help to ensure news publishers can continue to invest in providing the important news and investigative journalism you want and need to help stay informed and engaged.

Contact your member of Congress today to support the JCPA and help sustain your local journalists and news publishers: 202.224.3121

Learn more about the JCPA

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Without quality journalism, we’d be cut off from the outside world.

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Have you ever thought about how many times you look at your phone in a given day, and how much your need to be connected with your community and the world through staying informed about the latest news and information from local news publishers drives that behavior?

From the latest weather affecting your neighborhood, to community events offering enrichment and connection, to local government corruption that harms residents, local news reporting strengthens our community. But local papers across the country are under threat. Big Tech doesn’t produce original journalism – they take advantage of the news and information created by local publishers, reaping the financial benefits without paying for it.

The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) is a bipartisan bill that would allow local news companies to negotiate with Big Tech to ensure they are treated fairly and compensated justly. If Congress doesn’t pass the JCPA now, communities across America will continue to lose quality local, fact-based news coverage.

When you support the JCPA, you support journalism and help to ensure news publishers can continue to invest in providing the important news and investigative journalism you want and need to help stay informed and engaged.

Contact your member of Congress today to support the JCPA and help sustain your local journalists and news publishers: 202.224.3121

Learn more about the JCPA

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Credit: blackdovfx / iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images

Download as a PDF

Introduction

AI developers and regulators have a unique opportunity to establish an ethical AI framework to boost innovation and create new business opportunities, while ensuring that AI develops in a way that is responsible and sustainable. To achieve this, it is essential that AI systems are trained on content and data which is accessed lawfully, including by appropriate prior authorisations obtained for the use of copyright protected works and other subject matter, and that the content and sources used to train the systems are clearly identified. This document sets out principles that the undersigned publisher organisations believe should govern the development, deployment, and regulation of Artificial Intelligence systems and applications. These principles cover issues related to intellectual property, transparency, accountability, quality and integrity, fairness, safety, design, and sustainable development.

The proliferation of AI Systems, especially Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI), present a sea change in how we interact with and deploy technology and creative content. While AI technologies will provide substantial benefits to the public, content creators, businesses, and society at large, they also pose risks for the sustainability of the creative industries, the public’s trust in knowledge, journalism, and science, and the health of our democracies.

We, the undersigned organisations, fully embrace the opportunities AI will bring to our sector and call for the responsible development and deployment of AI systems and applications. We strongly believe that these new tools will facilitate innovative breakthroughs when developed in accordance with established principles and laws that protect publishers’ intellectual property (IP), valuable brands, trusted consumer relationships, and investments. The indiscriminate appropriation of our intellectual property by AI systems is unethical, harmful, and an infringement of our protected rights.

Our organisations represent thousands of creative professionals around the world, including news, magazine, and book publishers and the academic publishing industry such as learned societies and university presses. Our members invest considerable time and resources creating high-quality content that keeps our communities informed, entertained, and engaged. These principles – applying to the use of our content to train and deploy AI systems, as they are understood and used today – are aimed at ensuring our continued ability to innovate, create and disseminate such content, while facilitating the responsible development of trustworthy AI systems.

Intellectual Property

1) Developers, operators, and deployers of AI systems must respect intellectual property rights, which protect the rights holders’ investments in original content. These rights include all applicable copyright, ancillary rights, and other legal protections, as well as contractual restrictions or limitations imposed by rightsholders on the access to and use of their content. Therefore, developers, operators, and deployers of AI systems—as well as legislators, regulators, and other parties involved in drafting laws and policies regulating AI—must respect the value of creators’ and owners’ proprietary content in order to protect the livelihoods of creators and rightsholders.

2) Publishers are entitled to negotiate for and receive adequate remuneration for use of their IP. AI system developers, operators, and deployers should not be crawling, ingesting, or using our proprietary creative content without express authorisation. Use of intellectual property by AI systems for training, surfacing, or synthesising is usually expressly prohibited in online terms and conditions of the rightsholders, and not covered by pre-existing licensing agreements. Where developers have been permitted to crawl content for one purpose (for example, indexing for search), they must seek express authorisation for use of the IP for other purposes, such as inclusion within LLMs. These agreements should also account for harms that AI systems may cause, or have already caused, to creators, owners, and the public.

3) Copyright and ancillary rights protect content creators and owners from the unlicensed use of their content. Like all other uses of protected works, use of protected works in AI systems is subject to compliance with the relevant laws concerning copyrights, ancillary rights, and permissions within protocols. To ensure that access to content for use in AI systems is lawful, including through appropriate licenses and permissions obtained from relevant rightsholders, it is essential that rightsholders are able effectively to enforce their rights, and where applicable, require attribution and remuneration.

4) Existing markets for licensing creators’ and rightsholders’ content should be recognised. Valuing publishers’ legitimate IP interests need not impede AI innovation because frameworks already exist to permit use in return for payment, including through licensing. We encourage efficient licensing models that can facilitate training of trustworthy and high-quality AI systems

Transparency

5) AI systems should provide granular transparency to creators, rightsholders, and users. It is essential that strong regulations are put in place to require developers of AI systems to keep detailed records of publisher works and associated metadata, alongside the legal basis on which they were accessed, and to make this information available to the extent necessary for publishers to enforce their rights where their content is included in training datasets. The obligation to keep accurate records should go back to the start of the AI development to provide a full chain of use regardless of the jurisdiction in which the training or testing may have taken place. Failure to keep detailed records should give rise to a presumption of use of the data in question. When datasets or applications developed by non-profit, research, or educational third parties are used to power commercial AI systems, this must be clearly disclosed so that publishers can enforce their rights. Where developers use AI tools as a component into the process of generating knowledge from knowledge, there should be transparency on the application of these tools, including appropriate and clear accountability and provenance mechanisms, as well as clear attribution where appropriate in accordance with the terms and conditions of the publishers of the original content. Without limiting and subject to paragraphs 6 and 9, AI developers should work with publishers to develop mutually acceptable attribution and navigation standards and formats. Users should also be provided with comprehensible information about how such systems operate to make judgments about system and output quality and trustworthiness.

Accountability

6) Providers and deployers of AI systems should cooperate to ensure accountability for system outputs. AI systems pose risks for competition and public trust in the quality and accuracy of informational and scientific content. This can be compounded by AI systems generating content that improperly attributes false information to publishers. Deployers of AI systems providing informational or scientific content should provide all essential and relevant information to ensure accountability and should not be shielded from liability for their outputs, including through limited liability regimes and safe harbours.

Quality and Integrity

7) Ensuring quality and integrity is fundamental to establishing trust in the application of AI tools and services. These values should be at the heart of the AI lifecycle, from the design and building of algorithms, to inputs used to train AI tools and services, to those used in the  practical application of AI. A fundamental principle of computing is that a process can only be as good or unbiased as the input used to teach the system (rubbish-in-rubbish-out). AI developers and deployers should recognise that publishers are an invaluable part of their supply chain, generating high-quality content for training, and also for surfacing and synthesising. Use of high-quality content upstream will contribute to high-quality outputs for downstream users.

Fairness

8) AI systems should not create, or risk creating, unfair market or competition outcomes. AI systems should be designed, trained, deployed, and used in a way that is compliant with the law, including competition laws and principles. Developers and deployers should also be required to ensure that AI models are not used for anti-competitive purposes. The deployment of AI systems by very large online platforms must not be used to entrench their market power, facilitate abuses of dominance, or exclude rivals from the marketplace. Platforms must adhere to the concept of non-discrimination when it comes to publishers exercising their right to choose how their content is used.

Safety

9) AI systems should be trustworthy. AI systems and models should be designed to promote trusted and reliable sources of information produced according to the same professional standards that apply to publishers and media companies. AI developers and deployers must use best efforts to ensure that AI generated content is accurate, correct and complete. Importantly, AI systems must ensure that original works are not misrepresented. This is necessary to preserve the value and integrity of original works, and to maintain public trust.

10) AI systems should be safe and address privacy risks. AI systems and models in particular should be designed to respect the privacy of users who interact with them. Collection and use of personal data in AI system design, training, and use should be lawful with full disclosure to users in an easily understandable manner. Systems should not reinforce biases or facilitate discrimination.

By Design

11) These principles should be incorporated by design into all AI systems, including general purpose AI systems, foundation models, and GAI systems. They should be significant elements of the design, and not considered as an afterthought or a minor concern to be addressed when convenient or when a third party brings a claim.

Sustainable Development

12) The multi-disciplinary nature of AI systems ideally positions them to address areas of global concern. AI systems bear the promise to benefit all humans, including future generations, but only to the extent they are aligned to human values and operate in accordance with global laws. Long-term funding and other incentives for suppliers of high-quality input data can help to align systems with societal aims and extract the most important, up-to-date, and actionable knowledge.

Endorsing Organizations*

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*Additional organizations to endorse the Principles following publication include: AMI – Asociación de Medios de Información (Spanish News Media Association); APImprensa, the Portuguese Press Editors and Publishers Association; Association of Online Publishers (AOP) (UK); ARI, Asociación de Revistas (Spanish Magazine Media Association); TU – Swedish Media Publishers Association

Full list of organizations signing onto the Global AI Principles:

• AMI – Colombian News Media Association
• AMI – Asociación de Medios de Información (Spanish News Media Association)
• APImprensa, the Portuguese Press Editors and Publishers Association
• Asociación de Entidades Periodísticas Argentinas (Adepa)
• Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers
• Association of Online Publishers (AOP) (UK)
• Associação Nacional de Jornais (Brazilian Newspaper Association) (ANJ)
• Czech Publishers’ Association
• Danish Media Association
• Digital Content Next
• European Magazine Media Association
• European Newspaper Publishers’ Association
• European Publishers Council
• FIPP
• Grupo de Diarios América
• Inter American Press Association
• Korean Association of Newspapers
• Magyar Lapkiadók Egyesülete (Hungarian Publishers’ Association)
• NDP Nieuwsmedia
• News/Media Alliance
• News Media Association
• News Media Canada
• News Media Europe
• News Media Finland
• News Publishers’ Association
• Nihon Shinbun Kyokai (The Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association)
• Professional Publishers Association
• ARI, Asociación de Revistas (Spanish Magazine Media Association)
• STM
• TU – Swedish Media Publishers Association
• World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)

Related resources:

Joint G7 letter on development of global AI principles (News/Media Alliance, European Publishers Council, and Digital Content Next)

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Facts of the case
Colorado man Billy Counterman had an intense obsession with female singer-songwriter Coles Whalen. From 2014 to 2016, he sent her various disturbing messages from his Facebook account. Each time Whalen blocked his account, he made new profiles to write to her again. Some of his messages suggested he knew her location, while others suggested he wanted her to die or be killed. These messages deeply affected Whalen, causing her to change her daily routine. Counterman was arrested and criminally charged with stalking. He argued that the charges against him would violate his right to free speech because they were not “true threats”. The Colorado trial court convicted him of stalking under a state law restricting speech if a reasonable person could perceive it as a threat. His conviction was affirmed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, and the Colorado Supreme Court denied review. In January of 2023, the Supreme Court granted Counterman a writ of certiorari.

Question for the Court
This case asks the Court to clarify the standard for determining whether a statement is a true threat, punishable by law, or free speech protected by the First Amendment.

Decision
In a 7-2 decision, authored by Justice Kagan, the Court ruled that for a threat prosecution, proof of subjective recklessness is required – that the defendant consciously disregarded that a reasonable person may interpret their words as an act of intimidation or a threat. Therefore, the majority found that Counterman’s prosecution violated the First Amendment. Justice Thomas and Barrett filed dissenting opinions.

Free press implications
The Supreme Court’s decision to adopt a recklessness test, which applies to both civil and criminal contexts, shelters journalists from good faith reporting by requiring proof of intent to threaten. The ruling also reinforces the importance of the actual malice standard in the 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan, continuing to protect journalists when facing defamation claims.

For further reading, please visit:

• SCOTUSblog: Counterman v. Colorado
• RCFP: Counterman v. Colorado
• The New York Times: Supreme Court Puts First Amendment Limits on Laws Banning Online Threats
• Lawfare: The Supreme Court’s Counterman Decision, Explained

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Arlington, VA – The Senate Judiciary Committee has favorably voted 14-7 for the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) (S. 1094), which would allow digital journalism providers to collectively negotiate with Google and Facebook for fair compensation for use of their valuable content. The tech platforms are the dominant distributors of news content, reaping tremendous financial benefit without compensation to those who create the content. They also capture the majority of U.S. digital ad revenue, leaving local publishers with little to reinvest in the production of high-quality journalism.

“For too long, Big Tech has profited from using news content on their platforms, without paying the creators of that content. The JCPA will give small and local publishers a seat at the table and channel critical revenue to them to help sustain the high-quality journalism Americans need and depend on,” said News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey. “We applaud Chairwoman Klobuchar and Senator Kennedy for their enduring commitment to preserving journalism and their ongoing support of the JCPA. We applaud the Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage of this monumental legislation for journalism publishers across our country.”

The JCPA has broad support, not only in Congress in both the House and the Senate (16 co-sponsors in the 118th Congress to date, on both sides of the aisle, with 90 total co-sponsors in the previous Congress), but also from over 300 consumer interest groups, unions, conservatives, advocacy groups and third-party organizations that have sent letters of support for the JCPA to the bill sponsors.

In January, seven leading journalism, media, and pro-consumer antitrust advocacy organizations – including the News/Media Alliance, National Newspaper Association, America’s Newspapers, Authors Guild, American Economic Liberties Project, Inter American Press Association, and the Radio Television Digital News Association – sent a joint letter to President Biden urging him to call on Congress to advance the JCPA. The letter outlines the plight of local news, in which news publishers have been forced to play by Big Tech’s rules of the digital advertising playing field for years, resulting in the loss of more than a quarter of U.S. newspapers since 2005 and the spread of news deserts across the country. In their letter, the groups underscore the importance of passing the JCPA as the best solution to ensuring news publishers are compensated fairly for use of their content by the dominant tech platforms.

In addition, over 24,000 individuals have signed a Change.org petition for the bill and over 1,000 editorials and op-eds in support of the JCPA have been published in newspapers in 48 states across the country. In a poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted last spring by Schoen Cooperman Research for the News/Media Alliance, 70 percent of Americans said they support Congress passing the JCPA.

Claims made about the bill by the opposition are unfounded and not supported by the text of the legislation. Under the JCPA, jobs will be created; news outlets will publicly disclose funds received and how it is spent; payment will not be required for links; and platforms will not be forced to carry extreme content. The JCPA will lead to open and vetted compensation for digital journalism outlets for the fair market value the platforms receive. The Myths and Facts around these claims are important to honest and productive discourse.

The Alliance thanks Senator Klobuchar, Senator Kennedy, and all of the co-sponsors of this bill for their leadership in pursuing this legislation and for their commitment to a free press.

The markup proceedings can be viewed here.

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The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

The post News/Media Alliance Applauds Senate Judiciary for Passing Bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

Arlington, VA – The California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA, AB 886) passed out of the California State Assembly today in a floor vote of 55-6. The bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) in March, would require Big Tech platforms such as Facebook and Google to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee” to use the content of eligible digital journalism providers, as defined in the bill. Currently, creators of journalistic and creative content are not adequately compensated for the use of their work that takes a tremendous investment to produce.

The CJPA would also promote the hiring of more journalists, requiring news publishers to invest 70 percent of the profits from the usage fee into journalism jobs. The bill is expected to advance to the California Senate next month, and then head to Governor Newsom to become law.

News/Media Alliance President & CEO Danielle Coffey stated, “We applaud the California Assembly for taking decisive and direct action to save journalism through passing the California Journalism & Preservation Act (CJPA). We are extremely encouraged to see this progress at the state level, which shows that Americans understand the importance and value of journalism to keeping their communities safe and informed and holding those in power to account. We look forward to the CJPA moving on to the Senate and working with policymakers there to pass the CJPA and restore fairness and balance to the marketplace.”

The News/Media Alliance has been vocally advocating for such legislation at the federal level since 2018. The Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA), which was reintroduced in the 117th Congress (S. 673 and H.R. 1735), passed through Senate Judiciary Committee markup in September and nearly passed into law in December before the Congress ended. Senate Antitrust Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Senator John N. Kennedy (R-LA) reintroduced the JCPA, which has strong bipartisan support, in the Senate (S. 1094) on March 31.

Coffey added, “We are encouraged by the support we’ve had for addressing the severe marketplace imbalance between tech platforms and news and magazine publishers and look forward to legislation moving through both California legislature and Congress. Between similar laws being passed around the world, and the positive movement in the U.S. at the state and federal level, I believe we are at a turning point, and we are seeing more and more support for getting this legislation passed country wide.”

For more information on the federal JCPA, visit  www.JCPABill.com.

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Media contact:
Lindsey Loving
Director, Communications
lindsey@newsmediaalliance.org

The News/Media Alliance is a nonprofit organization representing more than 2,000 news and magazine media organizations and their multiplatform businesses in the United States and globally. Alliance members include print and digital publishers of original journalism. Headquartered just outside Washington, D.C., the association focuses on ensuring the future of journalism through communication, research, advocacy, and innovation. Information about the News/Media Alliance can be found at www.newsmediaalliance.org.

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Meta’s threat to take down news is undemocratic and unbecoming. We have seen this in their playbook before and they have been publicly admonished in other countries for this behavior, including Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau who criticized Meta’s threats, stating that it showed how “deeply irresponsible and out of touch they are.” As the tech platforms compensate news publishers around the world, it demonstrates there is a demand and economic value for news. These threats were attempted before when the Australian government passed a similar law to compensate news outlets and faced substantial public backlash. The Australian law resulted in countless jobs for local journalists and $140 million to news outlets,  Moreover, stating the CJPA funds would go to “slush funds” is blatantly false. Under the bill, 70 percent of funds must go to journalism jobs. This is why the Media Guild of the West voted unanimously to support the bill.

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The post Statement: Meta Threatens to Remove News from Meta Platforms if CJPA is Passed appeared first on News/Media Alliance.

“We are very pleased Senators Feinstein, Hirono and King have joined in support of the JCPA, and we applaud them for their commitment to sustaining high-quality journalism. Publishers must be compensated by the Big Tech platforms for use of their valuable content, and the JCPA will ensure they receive the compensation they need and deserve to be able to continue providing the important news and content that supports a strong and informed society. We look forward to working with all of the co-Sponsors to advance the JCPA toward becoming law.”

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The post Statement: Senators Feinstein, Hirono and King Sign on as Co-Sponsors of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act appeared first on News/Media Alliance.