Shrum, who listened to [Google’s] ad, said viewers might walk away with the impression that the price of their internet service will go up.

“They skirt the line of being factual,” he said. “At the same time, the ad is anything but a rounded, accurate portrait of what the controversy is all about.”

One day after Facebook parent company Meta threatened to remove news content from its platforms if Assembly Bill 886 becomes law, the California Assembly voted 46-6 to advance the bill to the State Senate.

High-quality journalism has been under threat for years in California, and the circumstances are now existential. During the pandemic, an average of two newspapers closed every week across the country.

In the latest attempt by legislators to rein in Silicon Valley, a measure has been introduced in California that would force tech companies such as Facebook and Google to pay publishers for news content from which their platforms profit.

A California bill that would force Big Tech companies to pay media outlets for posting and using their news content cleared another critical hurdle Thursday.

The California Journalism Preservation Act would require tech platforms like Facebook and Instagram to give money to local news outlets.

California’s lower chamber overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday requiring tech companies to pay publishers for their content, rebuffing Meta’s threat to block news articles across its platforms in the state if lawmakers converted on the effort.