Bill
SB 1732
Requires very large online platforms to track links to eligible local/ethnic journalism for in-state residents and pay a monthly journalism usage fee to eligible providers.
Status & procedural history
- Introduced: Feb 27, 2025.
- Latest status shown: Rule 3-9(a) / Re‑referred to Assignments.
- The bill received committee activity (including a committee substitute), notice and referral entries to multiple committees. Legislative action records in the materials also show later entries indicating the measure was indefinitely postponed/withdrawn and listed as dying in appropriations. Because the provided materials include multiple, partly inconsistent jurisdictional texts and timeline entries, consult the official legislative clerk for the current, authoritative status and the full bill text.
Purpose / intent
- Establish a statutory framework to preserve and financially support local, ethnic, and digital journalism by requiring very large online platforms to track how often they link to or present the work of qualifying digital journalism providers to in‑state residents and to pay a “journalism usage fee” to eligible providers. The bill frames this as protecting the “fourth estate” and addressing steep declines in newspaper ad revenue and newsroom employment.
Key provisions
- Covered platforms: Defines “covered platform” by size thresholds (major platform scale). The bill text sets alternative criteria such as very large monthly active user counts and corporate size (e.g., net annual U.S. sales or market capitalization thresholds and/or large global monthly users). Exemptions include certain nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organizations.
- Eligible digital journalism providers: Defines eligible publishers and broadcasters (publishers must disclose ownership), qualifying publications, and “news journalists.” Eligibility criteria include editorial practices, original reporting on matters of public interest, audience in the State, and regular content updates.
- Tracking and payments: Covered platforms must track and record, on a monthly basis, the total number of times they link to, display, or present an eligible provider’s journalism to in‑state residents and remit a usage fee to each provider that meets notice and eligibility requirements.
- Notice and enrollment: Sets up a notice requirement whereby providers notify platforms of eligibility (so platforms know whom to report and pay).
- Fee mechanics and arbitration: The bill establishes procedures for calculating fees, payment timing, and a dispute resolution/arbitration process for disagreements between platforms and providers.
- Protections and reporting: Includes non‑retaliation provisions (platforms may not penalize providers for invoking the law), reporting obligations, and provisions to fund journalists/support staff. Providers retain their intellectual property rights; the bill contains severability language.
Definitions (select)
- “Access,” “online platform,” “eligible broadcaster,” “eligible digital journalism provider,” “qualifying publication,” and “news journalist” are defined in the bill to set eligibility and scope for payments and obligations.
Potential impacts
- For journalism providers: Could create a new revenue stream for qualifying local and ethnic news outlets and support employment of journalists and support staff.
- For platforms: Imposes tracking, reporting, and payment obligations, administrative burdens, and potential arbitration costs; high thresholds limit coverage to very large platforms.
- Legal and economic: Likely to prompt legal challenges (e.g., preemption, First Amendment, interstate commerce questions) and may alter platform‑publisher relationships and content‑aggregation practices.
- Fiscal: No detailed fiscal analysis provided in the supplied excerpts.
Caveats / recommended actions
- The provided materials include truncated and mixed extracts from multiple jurisdictions and related bills. For precise thresholds, payment formulas, and the current status, review the official, complete bill text and the legislative clerk’s latest status report.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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