Legislation requires social media to pay for links, including far-right content
On Tuesday, Chamber of Progress sent a letter to California lawmakers, urging them to oppose legislation (AB 886) that would force online platforms to pay for links that send users to any news media site. The tech group raised a number of concerns, including the threat the legislation poses to the open nature of the internet, violations of copyright law, and the fact that the legislation would effectively fund far-right media content.
“The internet has blossomed as a place where users can link to each other’s content, free of charge,” said Chamber of Progress Adam Kovacevich. “Charging a link tax for every headline undermines that principle, and ultimately could help fund the most viral, radical content online. If California wants to support local news, lawmakers should consider better ideas like tax credits for subscriptions to local media.”
Last year, as Congress considered passing similar legislation at the federal level, Chamber of Progress published research showing that national conservative outlets, like Fox News and the New York Post, would earn seven times more link revenue than local news outlets under the bill. Read Chamber of Progress’s op-ed in The Hill on how a link tax would benefit the radical right.
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Chamber of Progress (progresschamber.org) is a center-left tech industry policy coalition promoting technology’s progressive future. We work to ensure that all Americans benefit from technological leaps, and that the tech industry operates responsibly and fairly.
Our corporate partners do not have a vote on or veto over our positions. We do not speak for individual partner companies and remain true to our stated principles even when our partners disagree.