• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, Yesterday

Oregon is getting closer to having a bill that would force tech platforms like Meta and Google to pay for using content from news organizations in the state. 

And Meta is ready to retaliate by cutting news on its sites in Oregon, as it has done elsewhere. It submitted a letter in April that seems to boast about its record in this regard.

“In Canada, Meta made the business decision to end the availability of news rather than be forced to pay for links that we do not choose to post on Facebook and Instagram,” the letter says. “In California, we made it clear that we would be forced to end the availability of news on Facebook and Instagram if a similar bill were to pass. If faced with legislation that requires us to pay for news content that publishers voluntarily post on our platforms and is not the reason most people come to Facebook and Instagram, we will be forced to make the same business decision in Oregon.”

Why is Meta so opposed to this bill? 

“Senate Bill 686 is based on a false premise that social media companies are unjustly benefiting from news content on their platforms,” it writes. “News outlets voluntarily share their content on Facebook and Instagram to expand their audiences with distribution on our free services, allowing them to expand their reach, boost subscriptions and ad revenue, and retain 100% of the profits generated from outbound links on Facebook.”

Fair enough. But publishers and legislators, faced with the prospect of having news deserts in the state, want to help shore up struggling newspapers. 

In a sense, they are racing against the clock. S.B. 686 must be passed in the Senate and approved by the house, ready for Gov. Tina Kotek (D) to sign before adjournment on June 29, according to Bloomberg  Government News. It has been forwarded to the Senate for a vote. 

What would the dreaded bill do?

Platforms with six billion or monthly active users would have to pay $104 million per year. For their part, newsrooms of a certain size would be required to spend “at least 70% of funds received on news journalists and support staff.

It might yet be worked out. Last year, California reached an agreement with Google that would provide funding to newsrooms and create an AI accelerator while avoiding a showdown with Google and other firms.

But don’t get your hopes up. California announced in May that its expected $30 million payout to support newsrooms would be cut by $20 million. And Google promptly followed suit, reducing its $15 million commitment by a third. The original  bill sponsored by Rep. Buffy Wicks (D), meanwhile, has died. What kind of deal is that?