Microsoft and newspapers join forces to fight Google

Over the past decade, hundreds of newspapers have disappeared largely due to the disruption of the advertising market by Big Tech. Republicans and Democrats can’t agree on much when it comes to technology reform, whether it’s content moderation or the fallout from acquisitions, but they seem to agree that local journalism must be saved.

A House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Friday focused on how Google and Facebook spread the news, and a new bill introduced earlier this week has already found support from Republicans. It’s one of the biggest legislative threats to technology emerging from the antitrust debate that has gone on for years, and much of its political strength comes from the precarious state of local journalism.

“The crisis in American journalism has become a real crisis of our democracy and our civic life,” Cicillin said in her opening speech on Friday.

Ciciline’s bill, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2021, would allow news agencies to collectively negotiate with platforms like Facebook and Google the terms under which their content is distributed online. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), who heads the Senate antitrust group, has also sponsored legislation in the Senate and Republicans, such as Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) and Representative Ken Buck (R-CO), have already signed in favor of the bill as well.

“This bill is a step in the right direction to dethrone these digital kings,” Buck said in his opening speech Friday. “This is not a subsidy for the points of sale, but rather a leveling of the playing field in favor of democracy and freedom of expression.”

But while there was growing bipartisan support for the measure on Capitol Hill on Friday, the real drama happened beyond the dais.

WHAT THIS MEANS

There is more pressure than ever for Congress to act. In January, Google threatened to remove its search engine from Australia, responding to a new law that would require the tech giant to pay news publishers for their content. The law was approved in February, and Google quickly backed down to a deal with News Corp. and other editors.

While all of this was going on, Microsoft released a statement supporting Australia’s efforts to protect publishers. “One thing is clear: while other tech companies can sometimes threaten to leave Australia, Microsoft will never make such a threat,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement last month.

Smith was brought in as a witness at Friday’s hearing, announcing his support for Cicillin’s media negotiation bill. Moments before the hearing began, Google released its own scathing statement against Microsoft, suggesting that the company “was making self-serving statements” that could “break the workings of the open web in an effort to undermine a rival.”

Google has good reason to be afraid of this bill, especially in light of its Australian bluff. The cicillin bill enjoys bipartisan support and is just the subcommittee’s first swing at Big Tech before battling with more sweeping reforms.

THE STRONG WEATHER

Glenn Greenwald, former Intercept Editor-in-chief turned editor of the Substack newsletter, also testified at Friday’s hearing. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) focused his line of questions on Greenwald, asking if he was concerned that a bill like the one proposed would cement the power of big media companies while leaving local journalism in the limelight. dust.

“What concerns me is that the discussion in the legislation seems to be premised on the assumption that the one or the main problem, for both local and national journalism, is that Google and Facebook are sucking ad revenue and that you just solve this problem. The problem of media failure will also be rectified, ”said Greenwald. “I believe that until the problem identified by this subcommittee in its report is tackled head-on, which breaks the monopoly powers of this industry, none of these problems will really be resolved.

Cicillin returned to Greenwald, saying her bill was just a first step. “The bill that at least Mr. Buck and I introduced… provides a temporary solution for a period of 48 months. And in fact, anything that these big media companies would negotiate would be available for the smallest role newspaper in any town in America.

He continued, “We are not going to do neither nor. We will do both.

WHAT DIDN’T THEY ASK FOR?

As Politico Cristiano Lima noted on Twitter that the committee hardly asked questions on Facebook! Facebook had its own beef with Australia last month, removing the ability for some users and editors to share topical content in the country. In February, the Australian government agreed to several changes that would allow users to continue posting news, so an in-depth conversation about these concessions and how they might affect US users would have been beneficial.

AND AFTER?

The House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee has yet another hearing before it begins to introduce legislation. These bills are expected to land this spring. Klobuchar also said CNN this week that the Senate competition committee will also begin holding its own hearings on technology dominance, looking at app store fees and news publishing. These hearings have not yet been scheduled.