A Senate panel has approved a bill to give news organizations more power over technology platforms

In this picture taken on November 2, 2021, Facebook’s new 3D logo is seen in front of the Google logo, showing the name Meta.REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would allow news organizations to negotiate with Alphabet Inc’s ( GOOGL.O ) Google and Meta ( META.O ) Facebook for more revenue. .

The bill cleared the committee by a 15-7 vote, a congressional aide said. Now it has to go to the Senate to get approval for them. Similar legislation is before the US House of Representatives.

The bill aims to give more leverage to news and broadcast organizations, where large tech companies use their content to drive traffic and advertising revenue, and many of which struggle financially.

The bill, spearheaded by Democrat Amy Klobuchar, attracted some Republican support and was sponsored by Senators John F. Kennedy and Lindsey Graham. Other Democrats, such as Senator Alex Padilla, have expressed their views on the issue.

Earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz backed the plan to include provisions that he believes would stifle conservative voices, and the legislation created a rush.

On Thursday, Klobuchar won support for an amendment declaring content usage pricing a problem.

“The purpose of the bill is to allow the big titans, the monopolies like Facebook and Google, to get compensation for accessing their content,” she said at a committee meeting to vote on the bill.

Unlike other bills meant to support big tech because it supports big broadcasters like News Corp, Sinclair and Comcast/NBCU, some progressive groups oppose the move, including public education.

Also opposing the bill are two tech industry trade groups of which Facebook and Google are members: the Computer and Communications Industry Association and NetChoice.

Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Jonathan Otis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.