Meta threatens to yank news content from California over payments bill

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NEW YORK — Facebook owner Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it would remove news content in its home state of California if the state government passed legislation forcing tech companies to pay publishers for journalistic content.

The proposed California Journalism Preservation Act would require online platform companies to pay a "journalism usage fee" to news providers whose work appears on their services, aimed at reversing a decline in the news sector.

In a tweeted statement, Meta spokesman Andy Stone called the payment structure a "slush fund" and said the bill would primarily benefit "big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers."

The statement was Meta's first on the California bill specifically, although the company has been waging similar battles over compensation for news publishers at the federal level and in countries outside the United States.

(Reporting by Katie Paul; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)