A proposed journalism law in California involving Google has now been shelved. The previously proposed law, known as the California Journalism Preservation Act or Assembly Bill 886, would have required Google to pay California news outlets in order to distribute their content. But instead a new deal has been reached with a new public-private partnership in place of the once controversial law. The tech giant will now fund programs to support local journalism and research artificial intelligence.
What is the new plan?
The new plan proposes a payout of almost $250 million over the next five years. One-fourth of the money will come from California taxpayers. While the remaining three-fourths should come from Google and perhaps other private donors. The money will go to fund two new initiatives from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. The first is a fund to circulate millions of dollars among California news outlets. The second is a “National AI Accelerator” to aid in developing new ways for journalists to use the powerful technology.
“This agreement represents a major breakthrough in ensuring the survival of newsrooms and bolstering local journalism across California — leveraging substantial tech industry resources without imposing new taxes on Californians,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a recent statement. “The deal not only provides funding to support hundreds of new journalists, but helps rebuild a robust and dynamic California press corps for years to come, reinforcing the vital role of journalism in our democracy.”
What was the previously proposed law?
Previously, the proposed California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) would have required tech companies, like Google and Meta, to pay news publishers a “journalism usage fee” for news content. In response to the bill, Google started censoring content from California news rooms on its site. Google stated that it had only tested “removing links to California news websites” to “a small percentage of California users.”
Are there other similar laws in the U.S.?
California’s bill would have been the first law of its kind in the United States. The most recent version of California’s bill was modeled after similar legislation that was successfully passed and implemented in Canada. Due to the Canadian bill, Google must pay $74 million annually into a fund.
In recent years, news outlets around the globe have lost many of its staff and writers due to fierce competition from online news sources and social media. The proposed CJPA bill was meant to support the California journalism industry by gaining funds to pay more full-time journalists.
“As technology and innovation advance, it is critical that California continues to champion the vital role of journalism in our democracy,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks in a recently released statement. “This partnership represents a cross-sector commitment to supporting a free and vibrant press, empowering local news outlets up and down the state to continue in their essential work. This is just the beginning. I remain committed to finding even more ways to support journalism in our state for years to come.”
You can read more about the new proposal here.