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| Huge tech platforms run the risk of losing their bargaining power |
Members of Congress intend to introduce a bill in the coming weeks to facilitate negotiations between small news outlets and large technology platforms.
When Australia got involved in a fierce battle with Facebook, the US hit the bill.
The social media giant kept its news file and other sites amid a dispute over a bill requiring payment of news outlets whose links would increase visits to its platform or negotiate a price through arbitrage.
The commission was supposed to pass a number of antitrust laws, the first of which was to allow small news outlets to negotiate alongside large technology platforms.
Giant tech platforms are using the news to attract customers and accuse news publishers of not sharing enough ad revenue with them.
This legislation could increase sales for a struggling news division. As Facebook struggles with publishers, Google has struck deals with them in France, Australia, and other countries.
Google announced that it has completed a global deal with News Corporation that includes large payments to news agencies. This is one of the largest transactions of its kind.
Over the years, young publishers using Google's ad sales technology have realized that their main competitors have received more relevant revenue sharing offers from the search giant.
There is no denying that the press is struggling with declining advertising revenues and changing media habits. The number of recruits in US newspapers has halved since 2008.
The proposed legislation is expected to be similar to the 2019 bill, which will allow small publishers to engage and negotiate with large technology platforms without facing antitrust review.
The bill states that only small publishers can benefit from collective bargaining.
Big publishers can do their own business. However, if you look at junior publishers, the only way to get fair value is if they work together.
Most members of the Antitrust Subcommittee cited violations by tech giants such as Facebook and Google in a report released in October.
We want to focus on the tech giants, said one congressman. The biggest threat to a free market economy is large-scale technology and potential legislation should focus on this aspect.