Facebook and Google have become the regulators of news and speech – deciding what people watch and when.
Controls over how we communicate have far-reaching implications for freedom of the press and our broader rights under the First Amendment.
Certainly, First Amendment provisions on speech and the press do not apply to private entities such as Big Tech companies. They are the only restrictions placed on the government. But the founders could not imagine a future where the distribution of all news and information would be controlled by two private entities: Facebook and Google.
The most under-examined aspect of Big Tech’s influence on the First Amendment is their control over the flow of news content and the corresponding devastating effect it has on local newspapers. These companies determine what you see and (if) your local printer is paid for the work.
People go online every day to learn about the world and their communities. Local publishers report on tangible things – like a new small business ribbon cutting or a state football championship. They also hold politicians accountable and uphold democracy.
Big Tech loves the audience local publishers provide, but they don’t want to pay for journalism. Facebook and Google easily profit by curating “content” for articles, photos and videos that are the product of the work of real journalists who work hard to report on local newspapers.
Google and Facebook’s complete dominance of the digital ad market has also allowed them to dictate terms and cut side-by-side deals for themselves and displace smaller, local publishers across the country.
Big tech companies have enormous economic and political power in society, especially in the news industry. No company should have this much control over an entire industry, especially one that is responsible for providing information to the American people.
Legislative solutions like the Journalism Competition and Protection Act (JCPA) are necessary to reign in the influence of these out-of-control tech titans, revitalize struggling local news organizations, and protect the First Amendment.
The JCPA levels the playing field between Big Tech and small and local publishers by allowing Big Tech companies to collectively negotiate fair terms for using their content. The bill has recently been refocused to benefit only small, local publishers — especially those reinvesting in journalists. The JCPA is content-neutral, allowing outlets to get their fair share of Big Tech no matter what their opinion pages look like.
If Congress doesn’t pass the JCPA, local newsrooms will continue to struggle to stay afloat, and Big Tech will continue to fill the gap with their platforms, leaving algorithmically optimized readers angry and at each other’s throats. All the while, their executives and investors continue to profit handsomely from the economic and political mess they are creating.
In today’s partisan political climate, it’s rare for Democrats and Republicans to agree on anything, but the JCPA is an important exception. We must pass the JCPA to ensure that publishers – especially small and local publishers – are treated fairly and compensated fairly.
