The first newspaper lawsuit filed in January 2021 by HD Media, a company that owns several newspapers in West Virginia, has created ripples across the country, garnering over 200 newspapers to sue Google and Facebook over the past year, according to reports by Axios.
The antitrust lawsuits allege tech companies Google and Facebook have taken control over the digital advertising market, making it difficult for local newspapers to survive.
This is another case to add to the long list of antitrust probes against tech companies, which have centered on monopolistic power and ad auction dynamics.
The litigation aims to redeem the financial damage done to newspapers by tech companies and force them to pay publishers for their content, emulating the laws in Australia.
HD Media’s lawsuit earlier this year was followed by more than 30 newspaper ownership groups seeking to file similar suits on behalf of over 200 publications. A financing contingency is in place where the newspapers will pay off the lawyers involved once they win a settlement.
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