Sen. Tom Cotton Opposes Media Cartel Plan: ‘Would Mean More Censorship of Conservatives’

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) formally announced his opposition to the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) on Wednesday ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee hearing on the bill.

“Creating a media cartel would mean more censorship of conservatives,” Cotton said in a statement his office provided to Breitbart News. “We don’t need a journalism bailout. This bill is deeply flawed and I’ll work to make sure it’s defeated.”

Cotton is a member of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate and of the subcommittee on antitrust matters that will consider the proposal on Wednesday. A slew of experts—some in favor, and some against—are expected to testify as proponents of the controversial plan look to generate momentum behind the idea that has been stalled since last spring as efforts to push it failed in the House.

The JCPA is a highly controversial proposal pushed in the Senate primarily by lead sponsor Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) but also a handful of Republicans like Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA), and would create a carve-out in federal antitrust law to allow media companies to collectively bargain with big tech companies.

Proponents of the bill argue it would force big tech giants like Google and Facebook to profit share with media outlets for content that is shared on their platforms, but critics worry the proposal has several shortcomings and that it would in essence allow establishment media outlets to create cartels of their own thereby solidifying control of the marketplace boxing out independent publishers.

The proposal is pushed in large part by an industry lobbying group known as the News Media Alliance, which counts among its board members executives of many top media companies like Fox News’s parent company News Corporation, Politico’s German parent company Axel Springer, USA Today, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many, many other media outlets. Those companies hope the proposal passes because they want to collectively bargain with big tech companies, theoretically hoping they would get a big payday at the end of it.