What’s Happening:
Congress is in the middle of heated discussions about securing government funding. Hardliners within the Republican Party are demanding cuts to federal spending, especially as the national deficit has hit a new high of $32 trillion.
Some have accused Democrats of delaying negotiations in order to force a shutdown. But other Democrats are using the process to bring back a bill largely panned by lawmakers and tech companies. The bill would have forced Silicon Valley companies into an inconvenient position and would have ramifications on what you see online. And despite its unpopularity, some Democrats are bringing it back.
From Breitbart:
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has conducted an assessment of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), a bill pushed by lobbyists for the legacy corporate media…
The bill would allow companies owned by the nation’s largest media conglomerates to form a cartel to secure deeper levels of collusion with Big Tech. The cartel could force tech companies, through arbitration, to funnel massive amounts of ad revenue to media companies owned by the likes of Hearst and Gannett — giant corporations with billions of dollars in revenue.
The Speaker of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), has said that despite Democrat efforts, the JCPA is “dead in the House.”
Despite failing to pass in previous years, Democrats including Sen. Klobuchar are trying to bring back the JCPA. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act is a widely-panned bill that would give traditional media companies the power to form a collective, in order to pressure tech companies.
The bill would allow the mainstream media to pressure tech companies into funneling large amounts of ad revenue into big corporate media’s pockets. This would give traditional media companies–which own newspapers, cable channels, and local news stations–more power over what you see online.
Big tech companies have even fought against this bill. A similar law was passed in Canada, resulting in Facebook and Google blocking news links across their platforms. Similar fallout could happen in the United States, depriving users of access to news on the Internet.
Despite how unpopular this bill is, certain Democrats requested the CBO to review the bill again. Which is a sign that they intend on bringing it back to the floors of the House and Senate. These Democrats have been accused of being in the pocket of corporate media lobbyists, putting the interests of these companies ahead of First Amendment protections.
The silver lining appears to come from Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy. The House leader announced that JCPA is “dead in the House.” This might mean the Speaker will not allow the bill to reach the House floor for debate.
But considering how often Democrats have tried to resurrect this bill, they might try again, when McCarthy is no longer in power.
Key Takeaways:
- Democrats are once again bringing back JCPA, a bill that would benefit mainstream media.
- This bill would funnel billions of online ad revenue into corporate media companies.
- The bill has been widely panned by critics and experts, yet Democrats keep bringing it back.
Source: Breitbart
