French Competition Authority Issues Warning to Meta

France – On July 8, France’s Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence) issued a binding order to social media giant Meta, requiring the company to present a payment plan within 15 days and restart negotiations with French media groups to settle outstanding news content usage fees accrued since 2025.

Following these preliminary emergency measures, the French Competition Authority must now conduct a substantive review of the case, with a decision expected in several months. The case was filed in 2025 by two collective organizations representing hundreds of French media outlets: Apig (Alliance of General News Media) and DVP (Digital Publishing Rights Organization).

Apig represents nearly 300 national and local daily newspapers. DVP’s mission is to collect and distribute neighboring rights among its members, who include 900 publications and news organizations (including AFP).

DVP responded: "This decision sends a strong signal." Its president, Jean-Marie Cavada, told AFP that this "rule reminder" does not "prejudge the substance of the work."

Mark Faye, President of Apig and CEO of Le Figaro Group, stated: "The Authority has clearly reaffirmed that neighboring rights apply to Meta and other platforms—no one can evade transparent, fair negotiations with publishers."

Meta said: "We disagree with these decisions, but we will actively participate in the process," adding that it is "committed to reaching a fair agreement with DVP and Apig." The dispute between these organizations and Meta stems from agreements that were not renewed after expiring at the end of 2024 (DVP) and early 2025 (Apig).

The French Competition Authority noted that since then, "members of Apig and DVP have received no neighboring rights payments from Meta," which "has caused them financial harm while their news content continues to be distributed on Meta’s platforms."

The Authority emphasized that "Meta’s conduct could exacerbate the difficulties faced by numerous publishers and news organizations deprived of essential resources."

Thus, this American tech giant must "negotiate in good faith, according to transparent criteria, with publishers and news organizations," and provide all necessary information for such talks "within 15 days." The Authority made clear that these negotiations must "cover the period beginning in early 2025 when news content resumed distribution."

– AI Threat –

An EU directive from 2019 established copyright neighboring rights for digital platforms, enabling newspapers, magazines, and news organizations to receive compensation when their content is reused by digital giants.

After years of intense negotiation, French media reached agreements with Meta in October 2021, followed by Google in March 2022. After a period of calm, media outlets reinitiated legal proceedings at the end of 2024, driven by the need to renegotiate agreements signed in 2021 and afterward. Legal actions are currently underway against X, Microsoft, and LinkedIn. Benoît Coeuré, President of the French Competition Authority, stressed in a press conference that the measures taken against Meta on Wednesday “are consistent with previous decisions,” especially those targeting Google.

Back in 2020, the Authority had already compelled Google to negotiate with media. In March 2024, the company was fined €250 million for failing to fulfill certain commitments made in 2022.

Non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) argues that "public institutions urgently need to regulate these platforms" and advocates for levying a "tax" to "fund journalism."

Besides neighboring rights, the press also faces another battle with artificial intelligence (AI). At the end of June, Google announced plans to launch its AI-generated article summaries in France, which could lead to a decline in traffic to media websites.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1870211056130057/

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author