Meta has issued a warning that it may remove news links from its platforms, Facebook and Instagram, in California if a proposed bill to tax tech companies for news content becomes law. This threat is not unprecedented, as Meta previously banned news content on Facebook in Australia in 2021 due to a similar law, which was later revised by the government.

The temporary news ban in Australia had a significant impact on news traffic in the country. In recent years, Meta has made substantial changes to its algorithms and products to reduce its reliance on news content, partly to avoid regulatory complications.

According to Axios, the proposed California Journalism Preservation Act aims to require companies like Meta and Google to pay a tax to the state based on their advertising revenues derived from news content.

“Every day, journalism plays an essential role in California and in local communities, and the ability of local news organizations to continue to provide the public with critical information about their communities and enabling publishers to receive fair market value for their content that is used by others will preserve and ensure the sustainability of local and diverse news outlets,” the bill reads. 

The funds collected would be allocated to newsrooms in California. Meta expressed its opposition to the bill, stating that it would prefer to remove news from its platforms instead of contributing to a fund that primarily benefits large out-of-state media companies.

“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,” Meta said in a statement.

California lawmakers posit, tech platforms should be responsible for supporting local news outlets, which have suffered due to the challenges posed by the internet era. Meta argues that the bill overlooks the fact that publishers voluntarily share their content on its platform and claims that the consolidation in California’s news industry occurred before Facebook gained widespread usage.

Similar to the situation in France and Australia, where laws were enacted to require payment for content, other countries such as Canada and New Zealand have proposed similar measures.

In the United States, a bipartisan group in Congress reintroduced an antitrust bill focused on journalism in March, mirroring the California bill. However, the bill has faced obstacles at the national level, including disagreements among lawmakers regarding the eligibility criteria for publishers to receive payment.

CBS Corp., Fox Corp., and entities affiliated with Cox Media Group have reached a settlement totaling $48 million to resolve allegations of artificially inflating the prices of broadcast television spot advertisements. The settlement, which was filed on May 26 in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, follows a five-year legal battle initiated by local businesses accusing the broadcasters of engaging in a price-fixing scheme that violated the Sherman Act.

According to Bloomberg Law, under the proposed settlement, the Cox entities will pay $37 million, while Fox will be responsible for $6 million, and CBS for $5 million. In addition, ShareBuilders, a defendant in the case that is a media sales and data analytics company, has agreed to a cooperation-only settlement. ShareBuilders has committed to assisting the plaintiffs in pursuing their claims against the remaining defendants, including Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., Tribune Media Co., and Griffin Communications LLC.

The lawsuit, which involves multiple plaintiffs, such as auto dealerships and personal injury law firms, originated in 2018 when complaints were filed across various jurisdictions in the US.

The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants, along with their sales representatives, manipulated local TV ad prices and exchanged competitively sensitive information, including advertising pacing data. The case was subsequently consolidated as a proposed class action in the Illinois district.

In addition to the settlements reached with CBS, Fox, Cox, and ShareBuilders, the plaintiffs have requested the court to certify the classes associated with these settlements and to grant preliminary approval for the settlements.

Advertising intelligence firm Vivvix has released an analysis of the top radio advertisers of 2022. Procter & Gamble maintained its position as the top parent company advertiser in the radio industry in 2022, investing $233.6 million in the medium. This marked a significant increase of approximately 48% from P&G’s radio allocation of $157.3 million in 2021.

Comcast Corporation secured the second spot as radio’s second-largest parent company advertiser, spending $205.5 million in 2022. Both P&G and Comcast Corp. were the only two companies that invested over $200 million in radio advertising last year.

Comcast increased its radio investment by 35% to promote its Xfinity wireless/internet service, Comcast Business, and NBCUniversal brands. Deutsche Telekom, the German telecommunications giant that owns a majority share in U.S.-based wireless provider T-Mobile, ranked third with radio spending of $101.2 million in 2022, representing a decrease of 21% from $128.1 million in 2021.

The U.S. Government secured the fourth position, allocating $100.1 million to radio advertising. Various government agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Army National Guard, and the U.S. Postal Service, utilized radio to broadcast their messages. The federal government reduced its radio spending by 22% from 2021, which was a notable year for the CDC’s efforts to encourage COVID-19 vaccination.

Berkshire Hathaway, the parent company of insurance carrier GEICO, ranked fifth with an advertising spend of $86.1 million in radio, down 25% from $114.4 million in 2021. Pfizer experienced the most substantial growth among major advertisers, more than doubling its radio spending from $59.3 million in 2021 to $122.0 million in 2022.