California had planned a law also known as a link tax. To avoid it, Google now prefers to voluntarily pay millions to publishers. However, journalists still call the deal a disaster.
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Under the planned law, Google should pay publishers money for using content and links, for example to display them in search results. Google makes money from the ads that are displayed around the content and links. Supporters of the law say that this would not be possible without the content of publishers and other content creators. Opponents say that because of the links displayed by Google, people first come to the page of the content creators, who then earn money by placing ads on their page. The California Journalism Protection Act would have affected Meta as well as Google.
Bavaria’s interior minister calls for surveillance with live facial recognitionThe legal use of publishers’ content by Google and Meta has already been discussed in other countries. In Canada and Australia, the term link tax has been in vogue in disputes. However, it has not come to fruition in this form. And in California, Google was even able to circumvent the relevant legislation by committing to voluntary payments.
Journalists say deal favors monopolists
Over the next five years, Google is expected to allocate $250 million for local newsrooms. The deal includes, among other things, the development of an AI program that will assist journalists in their work. The state of California will also contribute to journalism and action. For example, while Google is to provide $15 million for the journalism fund in the first year, the US state is paying $30 million.
The deal was signed by the California News Publishers Association, Google and OpenAI. The criticism comes from representatives of journalists. They supported the original bill but were excluded from negotiations on the current deal. CNN points to a joint statementIt said: “The future of journalism should not be negotiated behind closed doors.” The agreement favors monopolists and is a “disastrous deal” with Google.
In the fight against the planned law, Google months ago stopped providing links to press products from Californian news outlets, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. According to Google, this was a test to explore the effects of the law.
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