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A New Bill Could Kill News on Facebook

There is a proposed bill in California, and if it passes, it could mean no more news on Facebook.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has threatened to remove news posts from those social media platforms should Assembly Bill 886, dubbed the California Journalism Preservation Act, become law.

The measure would require social media companies, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to pay a monthly “journalism usage fee” — to be determined through an arbitration process — based on the social media platform’s monthly ad revenue.

The money would go into a fund for payments to the companies that produced the content. Media companies would be required, under the proposed law, to spend at least 70% of that money on journalists and support staff.

“If the Journalism Preservation Act passes, we will be forced to remove news from Facebook and Instagram rather than pay into a slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers,” according to a Meta statement.

As someone that gave up on Facebook years ago, I could care less if Facebook removed news. Honestly, I could care less if Facebook removed Facebook.

H/T Sacramento Bee

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