It Turns Out Meta Won’t Shut Down the News After All

Sounds good right? Well, that framing, according to Meta and dozens of other organizations, only tells part of the story. In a statement opposing the legislation Monday, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone warned the bill would create a “cartel-like entity which requires one private company to subsidize other entities.” Put more bluntly, Stone said Meta shouldn’t have to pay publishers for content that users aren’t interested in reading and added that most publishers actively seek out social media platforms for their potential to reach incredibly large audiences. Government-mandated negotiations with publishers, Stone warned, would force Meta to remove news from its platform all together.

While it’s hard to credit Meta too much for its, “screw it, we’ll just kill news entirely” approach, it wasn’t alone in its opposition. This week, a diverse coalition of 26 organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Knowledge, and the WikiMedia Foundation released their own joint letter urging Congress to abandon the bill, which they said would create an “ill-advised antitrust exemption for publishers and broadcasters.” Rather than help solve problems plaguing news organizations, the groups say the bill would actually compound many of those issues and would ironically, disproportionately favor larger entrenched media organizations.

The groups said the bill, as currently written, could lead to an increase in disinformation and hate speech since it would let publishers sue social media companies for reducing a story’s reach. That, they warn, would make it even more difficult for companies to moderate content. Rather than aid local journalism, the groups said the bill’s mechanisms could actually lead to increased consolidation amongst newspapers and broadcasters.

“Historically, antitrust exemptions have not accomplished beneficial goals, and instead have harmed competition and consumers, entrenched existing power structures, and increased codependence between powerful industry incumbents,” the groups wrote. The JCPA will cement and stimulate consolidation in the industry and create new barriers to entry for new and innovative models of truly independent, local journalism.”

That odd alliance appears to have won out. On Tuesday, a report from The Washington Post claims the JCPA was left out of Congress’ defense spending bill for 2023. The sudden reversal came after Net Choice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, two trade groups representing the biggest tech companies, said they would reportedly take out six figure ad-buys online with the sole purpose of crushing the JCPA.

Before everyone starts cracking open the champagne, it’s worth noting the recent alliance formed is probably more of a, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” variety. Many of the organizations named in the letter opposing the JCPA are the exact same ones leading antitrust campaigns against Meta and other major platforms who they claim operate effectively as monopolies, killing out competition and harming consumers in the process. But hey, it’s nice to see the swords remained sheathed for a change.