Meta is allegedly reconsidering its commitment to news, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported that Meta platform Facebook’s relationships with some news publishers, as part of its dedicated News section, are due to expire this year and Meta has not yet indicated that it plans to renew them.
“If Meta is indeed moving away from its commitment to news, then they are not only hurting news publishers, but they are hurting themselves and their millions of users who want and need sources of reliable, trustworthy information,” stated Alliance President & CEO, David Chavern. “Quality journalism is an antidote to the mis- and disinformation that flourishes on their platform. Without it, their current problems will only get worse.”
Meta is also showing its unilateral market power. Recent legislation introduced around the world, including the News Media Bargaining Code that was signed into law last year in Australia and the Online News Act introduced in Canada in April prompted Facebook to threaten to remove news from its platform and to make other retaliatory moves such as suspending productive partnerships with news publishers. These actions only demonstrate even more why such legislation is needed, as left to their own devices, the dominant tech platforms will continue to refuse fair compensation to news publishers.
The Alliance encourages Congress to pass the Journalism Competition & Preservation Act (JCPA) in the United States, which would establish fair terms of engagement between news publishers and platforms such as Facebook and Google.
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Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
