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of the alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google will temporarily block California-based news sites for some state residents as the search giant steps up its opposition to a state bill that would force big tech companies to pay publishers.
Jaffer Zaidi, Google’s vice president of global news partnership, said in a blog post Friday that the company will conduct “a short-term test for a small percentage of California users” to study the possible effects of the California Journalism Preservation Act on its products.
With the news freeze, the company is again using a strategy that tech giants have adopted in their efforts to reduce bills in countries like Canada and Australia that require payments for articles that appear on their platforms.
The bill “would create a level of business uncertainty that no company could accept,” Zaidi said. “To avoid an outcome in which all parties lose and California’s news industry is worse off, we urge lawmakers to take a different approach.”
The company will suspend planned investments in the news in the state “until there is clarity on California’s regulatory environment,” Zaidi said.