Meta threatens news blackout in California over payment and journalism bill.

Meta Platforms has threatened to remove news content from its platform in California if the state government passes a bill that would require tech companies to pay publishers a "journalism usage fee." The proposed California Journalism Preservation Act aims to reverse the decline in the local news sector. Meta spokesman Andy Stone called the payment structure a "slush fund" and said the bill would primarily benefit "big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers." Meta and Google have also threatened to withdraw news in Canada in response to proposed legislation there.