US bipartisan bill could empower news outlets to take on Big Tech

An antitrust bill would allow smaller news outlets to negotiate collectively with Facebook and Google, Reuters reports.

Members of the United States Congress from both parties plan to introduce a bill in coming weeks to make it easier for smaller news organisations to negotiate with Big Tech platforms, Representative Ken Buck, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, told Reuters news agency. The US bill would be introduced at a time when Australia is in a pitched battle with Facebook. The social media giant blocked news feeds and other pages – including those of charities, and health and emergency services – as part of a dispute over a proposed law that would require it and Google to pay news outlets whose links drive traffic to their platforms, or agree on a price through arbitration. Buck, who was named the ranking member this month, told Reuters news agency on Thursday that the panel would bring out a series of antitrust bills and that the first one in the coming weeks would allow smaller news organisations to negotiate collectively with Facebook and Alphabet Inc’s Google.