A week after Google announced that it would begin pulling some California news links from its search engine in response to a proposed state law that would require it to pay for linking to news content on its platform, the fate of that bill remains unclear.
Assembly Bill 886 passed with bipartisan support out of the California Assembly last year but stalled once it reached the Senate. Its author, Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, made the legislation a two-year bill, meaning it would be taken up in the legislative session this year.
Wicks was unavailable to comment on the bill. In a previous statement to The Bee, after Google announced its decision, Wicks said: “It’s about ensuring that platforms pay for the content they repurpose. We are committed to continuing negotiations with Google and all other stakeholders to secure a brighter future for California journalists and ensure that the lights of democracy stay on.”
The California News Publishers Association and the News/Media Alliance, both sponsors of the bill, called on California Attorney General Rob Bonta, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google’s actions for possible antitrust violations.
“Because of these unknowns, there are many ways Google’s unilateral decision to turn off access to news websites for Californians could violate California laws,” the letter read in part.
Google spokeswoman Brianna Duff called that claim “baseless” in a statement to The Bee.
“We’ve long said CJPA isn’t the right approach, and we’ve taken a responsible and transparent step to prepare for its possible implementation,” Duff said.
Google collects billions of dollars in revenue from ads that accompany searches on its platform, including ads that accompany links to news articles.
The California News Publishers Association sent a letter to Wicks, on behalf of nearly 350 news outlets including The Sacramento Bee, urging her to continue fighting for the bill.
“Publishers and news outlets of all sizes stand united in our efforts to preserve journalism in California. Publishers and labor are united on this issue. Time is running out and the Legislature must act before more damage is done,” the letter reads in part.
McClatchy, the parent company of The Sacramento Bee, Fresno Bee, Modesto Bee, Merced Sun-Star and San Luis Obispo Tribune, is a supporter of the legislation.
Matt Pearce, president of the Media Guild of the West and a former Los Angeles Times reporter, also supports the bill. Pearce penned a column for the San Francisco Chronicle in favor of AB 886, writing that “the dream of the open internet is fading and being replaced by a surveillance-driven dystopia powered by free and low-paid labor.”
“The California Journalism Preservation Act is just the first of many bills that will be necessary to point out that this content-creation arrangement is unsustainable for workers — and also everyone else,” Pearce wrote.
AB 886 would lead to fragmented internet, critics say
Among those writing in opposition to the CJPA is the Internet Society, which was founded by a band of internet pioneers in the early ‘90s to ensure that it remains free and open for everyone.
In an open letter to Umberg, the Internet Society’s Natalie Campbell and John Morris wrote that “the CJPA’s goal to support journalism is an important one; however, it is unworkable to do so at the cost of splintering people and businesses in California and the United States from the greatest communications resource of all time: the Internet.”