Meta threatens news blackout in California over proposed journalism bill

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has threatened to remove news content from its platforms in California if a new proposal requiring tech companies to pay publishers for news content is passed. The bill would require covered platforms to pay a “journalism usage fee” for content from local outlets and require publishers to devote 70 percent of the proceeds from these fees to creating and maintaining journalism jobs in California. Meta has made similar threats in other countries over similar proposals. California state Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D), who sponsored the bill, called Meta's threat "a scare tactic."