California bill advances that would make Google, Facebook pay news companies whose stories appear on their platforms

A bipartisan bill to make Google and Facebook pay news companies whose stories appear on their platforms to help the struggling media industry faced its first test in the state Senate Tuesday evening when it passed 9-2 out of the Judiciary Committee.

If approved by the Senate and signed into law, Google and Facebook either would have to agree to pay negotiated annual, lump-sum fees into a fund for news outlets, or be forced into mediation or arbitration to negotiate paying a share of their digital-ads revenue.