Google is upping the ante in its battle with California over paying news publishers, threatening funding for its own Google New Initiative.
Google has made a number of outreaches to the US news industry in an effort to address complaints that it unfairly benefits from linking to publishers’ news stories, such as the Google News Initiative, a $300 million commitment to help local publishers. The California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) is designed to address those complaints, requiring tech companies to pay for the news they link to.
According to Axios, Google is now threatening to pause funding for the Initiative in response to the CJPA. The outlet’s sources said that, while previous commitments should be secure, future commitments could be jeopardized nationwide. If Google decides to take such action, it would likely have a disproportionately large impact smaller news outlets.
Google tried similar hardline tactics in Australia when it passed similar legislation as the CJPA. In fact, the CJPA is loosely based on Australia’s legislation. Ultimately, however, Google ended up capitulating to Australia’s demands, despite its initial posturing.
The CJPA has widespread support within the news industry, but only time will tell if Google retaliates as it says it may.