Meta has been told to go back and talk to France’s newspapers about money. On Wednesday, the country’s competition regulator ordered the company to reopen negotiations with news publishers over payment for their content, after an earlier round of talks fell apart.
The order comes with a stopwatch attached. The Autorité de la concurrence gave the owner of Facebook and Instagram 15 days to spell out the details of its payment plan, which is not long for a dispute that has already dragged on.
It landed because publishers complained. French media groups took their grievance to the regulator once negotiations with Meta collapsed, leaving the question of who pays what unresolved. At the centre of it is a European idea called neighbouring rights.
In plain terms, it lets news outlets ask for payment when a platform makes use of their journalism, and it has already produced a bruising ruling against Meta at the EU’s top court.
The roll call of complainants reads like a French newsstand. It runs from television companies to titles including Le Figaro, Lagardère, L’Express, La Dépêche, Libération, Radio France and Centre France.
