Google has temporarily blocked California-based news outlets for some state residents as a test to the state Legislature over a pending law requiring tech giants to pay online publishers for their content. “A pending bill in the California state legislature‚ the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA)‚ would create a ‘link tax’ that would require Google to pay for simply connecting Californians to news articles. We have long said that this is the wrong approach to supporting journalism. If passed‚ CJPA may result in significant changes to the services we can offer Californians and the traffic we can provide to California publishers‚” Jaffer Zaidi‚ Google’s vice president for global news partnerships‚ wrote in a blog post. “By helping people find news stories‚ we help publishers of all sizes grow their audiences at no cost to them. CJPA would up-end that model‚” Zaidi continued. “To prepare for possible CJPA implications‚ we are beginning a short-term test for a small percentage of California users. The testing process involves removing links to California news websites‚ potentially covered by CJPA‚ to measure the impact of the legislation on our product experience‚” Zaidi added. Google Begins Blocking News From California Outlets Over State Bill https://t.co/zRiQQBTwfD — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 13‚ 2024 CBS News reports: The California Legislature is considering a bill that would require tech giants like Google‚ Facebook and Microsoft to pay a certain percentage of advertising revenue to media companies for linking to their content. How much the companies would have to pay would be decided by a panel of three judges through an arbitration process. The bill aims to stop the loss of journalism jobs‚ which have been disappearing rapidly as legacy media companies have struggled to profit in the digital age. More than 2‚500 newspapers have closed in the U.S. since 2005‚ according to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. California has lost more than 100 news organizations in the past decade‚ according to Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks‚ the bill’s author. “This is a bill about basic fairness — it’s about ensuring that platforms pay for the content they repurpose‚” Wicks said. “We are committed to continuing negotiations with Google and all other stakeholders to secure a brighter future for California journalists and ensure that the lights of democracy stay on.” The state Assembly passed the bill last year with bipartisan support despite fierce opposition and lobbying efforts from big tech companies. The California Senate would have to pass it later this year for it to become law. Supporters said the legislation would help level the playing field between news publishers and large digital platforms and provide a “lifeline” to local news organizations‚ which rely heavily on Google’s search engine to distribute its content in the digital era. While Google’s search engine has become the hub of a digital advertisement empire that generates more than $200 billion annually‚ news publishers saw their advertising revenues nosedive significantly in the last few decades. Google began removing California news websites from some people's search results‚ a test that acted as a threat should the state Legislature pass a law requiring the search giant to pay media companies for linking to their content. https://t.co/TJPnyNS0eI — ABC News (@ABC) April 12‚ 2024 Faced with possibly paying for news‚ Google removes links to California news sites for some users https://t.co/AF94Yvv72R — The Associated Press (@AP) April 13‚ 2024 According to POLITICO‚ Google’s actions are a “political tactic the tech industry has repeatedly used to try to derail such bills in places like Canada and Australia that require online platforms to pay journalism outlets for articles featured on their websites.” Google will reduce some users access to California news sites in response Leftist efforts to seize revenue to fund left-wing &;quot;journalists&;quot; https://t.co/V2YLYCU5eK — Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) April 13‚ 2024 From POLITICO: Sacramento is hosting the latest round of a global fight over the journalism industry’s future in the digital age‚ and California’s battle has taken on additional resonance because the state is home to tech titans. Advocates for such legislation argue companies like Google and Meta have helped decimate already flagging newsroom revenues through their control over digital advertising‚ and outlets deserve compensation for content that users may see on their platforms for free. The companies counter that these laws could stifle vital sources of information — and they’ve fought back by attempting to preview what they say that would look like. Google made similar threats to block content in Canada over its online news legislation before reaching a deal there with the government. Meta‚ meanwhile‚ permanently erased news content from its social feed in Canada and has threatened to do the same if Congress and California advance similar legislation. In California‚ the company has lobbied heavily against the measures currently before the California Legislature‚ channeling more than $1 million to an organization that ran an ad campaign decrying the bill as a “link tax.” Zaidi used the same phrase in his blog post.