Meta is not holding back on its threats against the United States Congress, especially regarding its current bill, which it would add to its must-pass priorities for the national security legislation of the year.
The Big Tech company claimed that it would remove Facebook News in retaliation to this move from the government. Meta will make it unavailable even for the public to access online.
It is now a game of chess for Meta and the US Congress, with every move carefully under the watchful eye of both parties on their next actions toward the bill.
Meta Threatens to Remove Facebook News If New Journalism Bill Passes
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone released the company's statement regarding the new Journalism Bill in Congress, claiming that Facebook will take down its News tab once this passes.
The statement said that it would not adhere or submit to the "government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard any value we provide to news outlets through increased traffic and subscriptions."
Facebook already made this move against the Australian government and pushed for a similar bill in 2021, where its News tab temporarily shut down in the region.
Furthermore, Meta added that "publishers and broadcasters put their content on our platform themselves because it benefits their bottom line - not the other way around."
US Congress's Journalism Competition and Preservation Act
The US Congress' S.673, also known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2022, aims to push a bill that will give more power to publishers and media organizations to push their content online.
It means that these news outlets have more power in collectively negotiating with online content distributors like Alphabet Inc., Meta, and other companies.
Meta's Facebook News and its Operations
The previous company, known as Facebook, was regarded to have its content experiencing chaos in its management, with many reports centering on its issues. As it transitioned to Meta, the company promised that it would improve its content for the world, one that aims to take care of its users' online safety, information, and data, among many others.
However, there were still claims regarding Facebook News' content being unreliable and having sources that do not uphold the standards of proper and ethical journalism on its platform.
Additionally, one of the latest changes on Facebook News is that uploaders, news organizations, and authors will no longer see any compensation from the company. Back when Facebook started its News tab for all, it collaborated with news agencies to push their content on the platform, with promises to monetize it under a three-year contract that recently ended.
With the many changes on Facebook News, it is now centering on its largest move to date, and that is disabling the feature to be accessible on the social media platform in retaliation to the upcoming Congress bill.
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