A bill by Asm Buffy Wicks that would charge Big Tech a “journalism usage fee” to news media has been delayed and will return in 2024.
Meta says if the AB 886 becomes law it would remove news content from its platform—similar to what occurred in Canada. The bill also is similar to the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act introduced from Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn).
Wicks notes within the bill that over the past 10 years, newspaper advertising has decreased 66 percent, and newsroom staff have declined 44 percent.
It should be noted that if websites do not want traffic from Google or Facebook, according to my “tech guy” they have the power to already stop it through robots.txt or its own redirects—but every site wants the traffic and they want to get paid for it. AB 886 basically implies that news media should get paid to have big tech send them traffic. Basically, it forces big tech to give their money away to media. It’s unclear if the bill provides an “opt out” clause that media companies could not want to participate. Its unclear the bill would even preserve or produce more journalism in California, but rather companies may use it to simply increase cash flows.
On June 1, AB 886 passed the State Assembly in a 55-6 vote with 19 members not casting a vote.
Here is the release by Wicks:
Assemblymember Wicks, Senator Umberg Reach Agreement for Two-Year Bill (AB 886)
SACRAMENTO – On Friday, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) and Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) announced that AB 886, the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), will become a two-year bill. In lieu of its scheduled July 11 hearing, the bill will move forward next year from its current point in the process: Senate Judiciary Committee.
With large bills like AB 886, taking advantage of the first year of a two year session allows lawmakers to further develop their bills and ensure they succeed through the final hurdles of the legislative process. Rather than start from scratch, these bills pick up the following year at the point they left off the year prior.
“I’ve agreed to make AB 886 a two-year bill In order to ensure the strongest legislation possible – because getting this policy right is more important than getting it quick,” said Assemblymember Wicks. “My priority is making sure this bill does exactly, and only, what it intends: to support our free press and the democracy sustained by it, to make sure publications get paid what they are owed, and to hold our nation’s largest and wealthiest tech companies accountable for repurposing content that’s not theirs.
“The work doesn’t stop – our coalition and its momentum continue to grow, with new support ranging from ethnic media to consumer protection organizations,” Wicks continued. “I look forward to working with Senator Umberg to make this a first-in-the-nation bill, and continue to welcome all stakeholders to the table – including Big Tech – to help us get this policy exactly right.”
In the interim, Senator Umberg will hold an informational hearing during the Fall of 2023 to further explore issues AB 886 is trying to tackle, and look at successful legislation in other countries to better craft the California solution.
“Assemblymember Wicks and I have agreed to schedule Assembly Bill 886 for a vote in committee in 2024, preceded by an informational hearing this Fall,” said Senator Umberg. “This interim hearing underscores my commitment to protecting journalism, California journalists, and the access to a free and vibrant press that is essential to our democracy. My greatest concern is that we enact legislation that is fair, and that the benefits in this bill flow specifically to support local journalists – and in turn, all Californians. I look forward to working with Assemblymember Wicks and my colleagues to help save this foundation of our democracy.”
