Google axes links to California news over payment dispute

In response to proposed California legislation that would require large tech companies to pay news organizations for using their content, Google has started removing links to California news sites, the company announced in a blog post on Friday. This action by Google, an Alphabet subsidiary, is being described as a test to evaluate the potential effects of the California Journalism Preservation Act on its services. This legislation, introduced in March 2023 and still under review by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, mandates that platforms like Google and Meta pay a fee for displaying news content alongside digital advertisements.

The bill aims to address concerns that news aggregation by these platforms is diverting users away from traditional news websites, potentially undermining the financial viability of news organizations. Critics argue that while tech giants profit from the content, the content creators do not see commensurate financial benefits.

Friday night, Mike McGuire, California State Senate President Pro-Tempore and co-author of the bill, criticized Google’s actions as a form of bullying and a threat to public safety, emphasizing the importance of accessible news for emergency awareness.

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, another bill co-author, highlighted the unfairness in tech platforms profiting off local news content without fair compensation to the content creators. She advocates for tech companies paying market rates for the journalism they aggregate.

The president and CEO of the California News Publishers Association, Charles F. Champion, echoed this sentiment, stressing the urgent need for regulatory action against Google’s dominance in controlling online content access.

Chris Argentieri, president and COO of the Los Angeles Times, condemned Google’s response as supportive of the need for such legislation, referencing ongoing scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Google opposes these charges, which it refers to as a “link tax.” Jaffer Zaidi, Google’s Vice President of Global News Partnerships, expressed concerns about the unpredictable financial implications that the bill could impose, branding it as unfeasible for any business.

This isn’t the first time Google has resisted similar legislative efforts. Following the enactment of a comparable law in Canada, Google threatened to block Canadian news content on its services. Despite this, the company later indicated progress in working with the Canadian government to negotiate exemptions.

Similarly, in Australia, Google initially threatened to withdraw its search service due to a 2021 law requiring payment to Australian news publishers but later agreed to make payments through its Google News Showcase instead of direct payments for news links.