To provide a temporary safe harbor for publishers of online content to collectively negotiate with dominant online platforms regarding the terms on which content may be distributed.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill allows local newspapers, digital news outlets, and broadcasters to band together and collectively negotiate with large tech platforms like Google and Facebook for payment when those platforms display or distribute their news content. Currently, antitrust laws prevent competitors from negotiating together, but this bill creates a temporary exemption (6 years) specifically for news organizations to bargain with Big Tech.
Who Benefits and How
Small and medium-sized news publishers (under 1,500 employees) gain collective bargaining power against tech giants they could never negotiate with individually. They can form joint negotiation entities, demand fair compensation for their content, and use binding arbitration if negotiations fail. 65% of arbitration awards must be distributed based on spending on journalists, incentivizing investment in newsrooms. Tech platforms cannot retaliate by de-ranking or removing content from participating publishers.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Large tech platforms (those with 50+ million US users AND either $550+ billion market cap or 1+ billion global users) must negotiate in good faith with news organizations and potentially pay for content they currently access freely. They face binding arbitration if negotiations fail and cannot offset payments by claiming they provide value through distribution. They must also publicly disclose all agreements with the FTC.
Key Provisions
- News organizations can form joint negotiation entities to bargain collectively with covered platforms without violating antitrust laws
- Binding final-offer arbitration available if negotiations stall after 180 days, with arbitrators selecting one party's complete offer
- Anti-retaliation protections prevent platforms from de-ranking or removing content from participating publishers
- 6-year sunset provision with GAO study on impact to local journalism and journalist employment
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a framework allowing news publishers and broadcasters to collectively negotiate with large tech platforms for compensation when platforms access their content, with antitrust exemption and binding arbitration.
Key Policy Areas
Media & Communications, Antitrust, Technology, Labor
Primary Purpose
Creates a framework allowing news publishers and broadcasters to collectively negotiate with large tech platforms for compensation when platforms access their content, with antitrust exemption and binding arbitration.
Policy Domains
Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2023
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Small and medium news publishers
- Local broadcasters
- Journalists
- Local news consumers
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Large tech platforms (Google, Meta, etc.)
- Television networks
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
ReportedReported by Mr. Durbin, without amendment
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Daines, …
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Daines, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Journalists, Large media conglomerates (1500+ employees), Small and medium news publishers
Positive-direction: Journalists, Small and medium news publishers
Negative-direction: Large media conglomerates (1500+ employees)
Large tech platforms, Large tech platforms (Google, Meta, etc.)
Local broadcasters, Television networks
Positive-direction: Local broadcasters
Negative-direction: Television networks
Congress, DOJ Antitrust Division, Federal Trade Commission
AAA arbitrators, Media and technology litigation attorneys
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "covered_platform"
- → Large online platforms with 50M+ US users and $550B+ market cap or 1B+ worldwide users (e.g., Google, Meta)
- "comptroller_general"
- → Comptroller General - conducts 5-year impact study
- "federal_trade_commission"
- → Federal Trade Commission - receives filings, publishes agreements, oversees disclosures
- "joint_negotiation_entity"
- → A collective formed by 2+ eligible digital journalism providers to negotiate with covered platforms
- "eligible_digital_journalism_provider"
- → News publishers or broadcasters meeting content, employment, and ownership criteria
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Acquiring, crawling, or indexing content
Online platform with 50M+ US monthly active users, owned by entity with $550B+ market cap or 1B+ worldwide users, not a 501(c)(3)
FCC-licensed broadcaster that employs journalists, updates content weekly, has editorial standards, and is not a TV network
Publisher of qualifying publications (websites/apps providing news with professional journalists, weekly updates, editorial standards, under 1,500 employees, not foreign-controlled)
Website, app, OS, digital assistant, or service that accesses and aggregates, displays, or distributes news content from eligible providers
Digital news service with professional journalists, weekly updates, error correction process, $100K+ annual revenue or ISSN, 25%+ news content, under 1,500 employees, not foreign-controlled
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology