Misinformation thrives when local news dies. Local news is critical to keeping residents informed and holding government officials accountable. But thanks to dominant tech companies like Google and Meta, the local news industry in the U.S. and Canada is dying, helping misinformation thrive and accelerating the growth of news deserts (areas that lack local news source).

In California, legislators are considering Oakland Asm. Buffy Wicks’ Assembly Bill 886, the California Journalism Preservation Act, which would require large tech companies like Google and Meta to compensate digital journalism providers for their California content.

Google, a court-declared monopoly, is among those behind advertisements now blitzing the California airwaves allegedly in support of local journalism. Viewers beware.

What’s really happening is that the California Legislature is very close to forcing the big social media platforms to share their journalism-related revenues with the outlets that produce them.

Google was once the company with the motto “Don’t be evil.” Well, those days are gone.

Last week, a federal judge ruled that the Silicon Valley company is a monopolist that uses its market advantage to stifle search-engine competition.

The coming election is a stark reminder of what California communities lose when local news outlets shrink or shutter. Sure, there will be an abundance of news about the presidential race and which party will control the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate.

But what about local school board candidates? Or city council and community college district races? Local elections matter because the decisions these bodies make directly affect residents’ lives, whether in fees, taxes, services or spending priorities.

For years, governments around the world have waged a bitter fight with Google and Meta over whether the Big Tech giants should pay for the news stories and videos that show up in search results and on social media. Now that fight has come to their home turf — the United States.

While news organizations benefit from increased traffic generated by Google’s search algorithms, Google profits from the content produced by these organizations without compensating them, ultimately siphoning resources from the very newsrooms that provide valuable articles and information. Lawmakers must act swiftly to pass legislation that protects the integrity of journalism and prevents tech giants from abusing their power for financial gain.

Whatever happened to Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto?

That corporate maxim is apparently gone, and the Internet behemoth has decided to display its super villain side. The latest example is a campaign in California to demonstrate just how easily the company could crush news outlets if state lawmakers dare to pass a law requiring that tech companies, such as Google, share advertising revenue with the journalists who produce much of the content on their platforms.

California lawmakers will again attempt this year to make Big Tech platforms, notably Google and Meta, pay for news content after being stymied in 2023.

The News/Media Alliance, a journalism trade organization and advocacy group, on Tuesday asked federal government officials to investigate Google after the tech giant said it would limit links to California news outlets in its search results.

The News/Media Alliance, which represents US newspapers and online publications, said it had sent letters to the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and the California Attorney General to request an investigation into whether Google broke any laws when it limited some Californians’ ability to access news websites from Google search last week.