Social media platform, Facebook, will reportedly no longer have any news material in the US, according to owner Meta Platforms, Inc. It opposes a new rule that would give media organizations more negotiating power when setting prices for Facebook-shared material.

News on Facebook was temporarily stopped last year as a result of a similar rule that was approved in Australia. As per Meta, their platform actually boosts traffic to failing news organizations. Publishers post their content on Facebook because it enhances their bottom line.

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota presented the bill, formally known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), in Congress. It has bipartisan support. The ability to jointly negotiate with social media networks for a larger portion of advertising money would grow for publishers and presenters.

Media companies contend that news stories published on Meta earn astronomical amounts of money. While Meta generated tremendous earnings throughout the pandemic, local news especially suffered. 

However, the social media giant contended that it was untrue as it strongly believes in promoting news sources.

A representative for Meta, Andy Stone, stated that they would be compelled to consider dropping news off their platform entirely if Congress approves a poorly thought-out journalism measure as part of national security legislation. Additionally, the company specified that very little portion of Facebooks revenue comes from news sharing.

The US legislation is a component of a bigger body of regulations designed to counter Big Techs hegemony. They are of the opinion that if the JCPA is not passed, social media will allegedly replace local newspapers as Americas primary news source.

According to Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project, Meta was eating alive media organizations. He claimed that Metas attempts to extort Congress show once more why this dominance is a menace to democracies throughout the world.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63869013