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Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets

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Re: Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets

#21

Post by dang »

The Google post is at https://blog.google/products/news/california-journalism-pres... (via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40015355, but I merged that thread hither since this article has more background).

Also:

California Assembly votes to pass the Journalism Preservation Act - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36165322 - June 2023 (99 comments)

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta threatens to cut off news in California - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36148877 - June 2023 (27 comments)

Can the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act preserve local journalism? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27943976 - July 2021 (1 comment)

Re: Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets

#23

Post by kemayo »

pompino wrote: post #20
kemayo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Google is pretending. Its linking is legitimate. Also, it feels strange to draw an equivalence between Google downranking a spam website and the government charging to link to things.

There is no difference between content/link farms and what Google is doing - its copy/pasting someone else's words on a website and surrounding them with ads. _Neither_ are deserving of fair-use protections.

I don't think we're going to agree on this one.

Re: Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets

#26

Post by LegitShady »

setgree wrote: post #24

This threat is credible: Google shut off Spain's access to Google News for eight years for similar reasons [0]. [0] https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-news-re-opens-spai...

Meanwhile in Canada...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/nov/29/google-ca...

Although facebook/insta did refuse to be blackmailed, and many canadian news orgs are actually harmed by this sort of bullshit link taxing because their media can't be shared on facebook anymore, where a lot of older news watchers get their news

https://about.fb.com/news/2023/06/changes-to-news-availabili...

Re: Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets

#27

Post by [deleted] »

jaredwiener wrote: post #19

This requires some nuance, since I think it goes beyond a "tax on linking," as I have seen it described. News is a strange product, and one that I think a lot of people in tech get wrong. The atomic unit of journalism is not an article....it's the reporting. Even deciding to write an article is an act based on the analysis of the reporting. Further, a good headline often tells the story itself -- and that is implicit…

[deleted]

Re: Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets

#28

Post by philipkglass »

pompino wrote: post #20
kemayo wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Google is pretending. Its linking is legitimate. Also, it feels strange to draw an equivalence between Google downranking a spam website and the government charging to link to things.

There is no difference between content/link farms and what Google is doing - its copy/pasting someone else's words on a website and surrounding them with ads. _Neither_ are deserving of fair-use protections.

Google News does not show ads.

Re: Google threatens to cut off news after California proposes paying media outlets

#29

Post by LegitShady »

ratsmack wrote: post #2

There is no love lost between me and Google, but then I have zero regard for "news" organizations that are attempting to strong-arm funds from Google for their failing business model.

is it news orgs or governments? News orgs can't enact taxes without co-opting governments to pass laws.

But I agree these link taxes are a fundamentally broken concept where legacy media looks to strongarm funds out of others for sharing their publicly shared news.

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