Meta will remove all news links from Facebook and Instagram in California if state legislators pass a bill that would tax the tech platform's advertising profits, a company spokesperson threatened on Wednesday.
The California Journalism Preservation Act hopes to tax the advertising profits companies like Meta or Google make from distributing news content. If passed, 70% of the tax revenue, dubbed a "usage fee," would be funneled back into newsrooms throughout California. The bill is intended "to seek compensation for publishers based on the value they create for technology platforms," The Wall Street Journal explained. "There is no cap on the size of publishers who can join the effort."
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