Facebook has publicly threatened to remove news content from its American platform if the US Congress forces big tech groups to systematically pay publishers and broadcasters for carrying their content.
The warning echoes Facebook’s shortlived decision to ban news from its website in Australia last year, an attempt to defy groundbreaking legislation that sought to change the terms of trade between publishers and platforms.
The warning from Facebook’s parent, Meta, on Monday came after a long-debated bill seeking to empower American news groups was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act, significantly increasing its chances of being enacted.