Despite all the cognitive capabilities at their disposal, human beings have failed rather sensationally at not making mistakes. This fact, in particular, has already been proven quite a few times throughout our history, with each testimony forcing us to look for some sort of a defensive cover. To the world’s credit, it will find the most fitting answer to its conundrum by bringing dedicated regulatory bodies into the fold. Having well-defined governing forces across each and every area was a game-changer, as it wasted no time in concealing a lot of our shortcomings. Such a dynamic gave us the space to achieve significantly more than we would have done otherwise. Nevertheless, the whole utopia dropped dead before anyone could even realize, and if we are being honest, it was all technology’s fault. You see, the moment technology got its layered nature to take over the landscape; it ended up giving people an unprecedented chance to fulfill their ulterior motives at the expense of the others. In case the situation wasn’t bad enough in itself, the scale on which this exploitation started to occur will soon blindside our governing forces, thus sending them back to the drawing board. Fortunately, though, it won’t be the last time we’ll see the tide turn. The regulatory forces will come back stronger than ever before. The traces of it have, in fact, been on full show over the recent past, and a new legislation should only turn them more evident moving forward.
The US lawmakers have formally proposed an altered version of a legislation called Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, which is designed to help news organizations in getting their due share from the likes of Google and Meta that dominate the digital advertising market. Going by the official reports, the bill, if approved, will remove “legal obstacles to news organizations’ ability to negotiate collectively and secure fair terms from gatekeeper platforms that regularly access news content without paying for its value.” Notably enough, only the news companies with fewer than 1,500 full-time employees and non-network news broadcasters will be eligible for a payout. As for social media platforms turned digital marketers, only the ones with more than 50 million US users and at least a billion monthly active users worldwide or are “owned or controlled by a person who has either net annual sales or market capitalization greater than $550 billion” will fall under the new act’s umbrella.
In case the negotiations reach a stalemate, the news organizations will also have the option to demand arbitration.
Pic credits: Shannon Stapleton/ REUTERS
