In mid-March, Politico published a powerful piece of investigative reporting titled “How Washington fumbled the future,” detailing the Federal Trade Commission’s 2012 investigation into Google’s anticompetitive conduct and the agency’s failure to bring a case against Google.
We are encouraged by the creation of the Facebook News Tab and that Facebook is prioritizing – and paying for – quality journalism. However, we are concerned that anything less than a fully comprehensive solution could put some publishers at a distinct disadvantage.
Facebook has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought against it after it overstated average viewing time for videos on the platform. The suit alleged that because Facebook discarded data for any views lasting three seconds or less, they were able to inflate the average watch times — by as much as 900 percent, according to the plaintiffs. These tactics are concerning as publishers enter into relationships with Facebook to populate its News Tab.
There have been press reports that Facebook is contemplating a separate news section in its platform and that, as part of that, it would license news content from publishers.
The News Media Alliance applauds the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) for the findings of its long-awaited Digital Platforms Inquiry, released today.
