Members of Parliament want to force Google, Meta, X and LinkedIn to pay the press more.

For several years, relations between the press and digital giants have remained strained around one specific issue: the remuneration of journalistic content reused on these platforms.

Faced with this situation, in an AFP dispatch, we learn that French MPs unanimously adopted a new bill to strengthen the application of neighboring rights and requiring platforms to be more transparent in their negotiations with publishers…

Press revenues in sharp decline in the face of digital giants…

Since the early 2000s, the French print media has experienced a continuous erosion of its revenues, and this could worsen with tools like AI Overviews or AI Mode, as has been observed in the United States.

According to figures cited by MP Erwan Balanant, author of the text, the sector's revenues have almost been halved, while a growing share of advertising revenue has shifted to major digital platforms.

To try to correct this imbalance, the European Union introduced neighboring rights to copyright in 2019. This mechanism allows newspapers, magazines, and news agencies to be compensated when their content, or excerpts thereof, are used by digital platforms. However, in practice, negotiations often prove difficult. Specifically, some publishers complain about a lack of information provided by the platforms to assess the true value of their content, while other players simply refuse to engage in discussions. For example, Member of Parliament Erwan Balanant pointed out that platforms like X and LinkedIn consistently refuse to negotiate with publishers. On Google's side, after several sanctions, the company finally signed agreements in 2021 and seems to be adopting a more conciliatory approach. At Meta, discussions remain more complex, as an agreement had been signed with the Alliance de la presse d’information générale (General Information Press Alliance), but it expired and was not renewed. A law to rebalance the power dynamic? The bill adopted by the members of parliament aims to strengthen the effectiveness of neighboring rights by imposing greater transparency on platforms, which would have to provide publishers with all data relating to the use of their content. The text also provides for a new role for Arcom, which could intervene as an arbitrator in the event of a conflict. The authority would also have the power to impose sanctions of up to 1% of the revenue of the platforms concerned. The MP also wants to prevent platforms from reducing the visibility of press content during negotiations, as this practice was observed in 2020 when Google altered the display of certain content from French publishers. While the text has been widely welcomed by professionals, it must now continue its legislative journey in the Senate, and it is still too early to know whether the outcome will be favorable to the press or not.