Meta Threatens To Pull News From Its Platforms In California. Here’s Why

Meta, on Wednesday, said that it would remove news content from Facebook and Instagram in California if the state passes its California Journalism Preservation Act.

The proposed California Journalism Preservation Act would mandate "online platforms" to pay a "journalism usage fee" to news providers whose work appears on their services.

The bill aims to revive the local news sector which is on the decline.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone posted the company’s official statement on Twitter criticising the payment structure and labelling it as "slush fund".

He further argued that the bill would largely assist "big, out-of-state media companies" while masking its objective to help California publications.

The company has been engaged in similar disputes over news publisher compensation at the federal level in the US as well as other countries.

In response to similar planned regulations in Canada and Australia, Meta had threatened to withdraw news from its platforms in the past.

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