The French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s social network X, formerly known as Twitter.
The agency claims that X is not complying with its obligations under a French law passed in 2019 to negotiate potential compensation for publishing news content. The legislation, called “related rights,” obliges large online companies to enter into a dialogue with publishers seeking compensation for their news. AFP claims that X has been conspicuously avoiding these mandatory discussions.
In an official statement, AFP expressed its concern: “Agence France-Presse has expressed its concern at the apparent refusal of Twitter (recently rebranded as “X”) to enter into discussions on the exercise of related press rights.”
Musk responded to the accusations on his own platform, questioning the rationality of AFP’s demand. “This is strange. They want us to pay them for traffic to their website, where they make money on advertising, and we don’t!?” Musk commented.
Despite requests, Company X has not provided any public comment on the ongoing litigation.
This event echoes 2021, when the tech giant Google was fined €500 million by the French antitrust authority for non-compliance with the same law. Following the decision, Google agreed to settle the dispute and has since confirmed agreements with AFP and other prominent French news agencies. Facebook, now renamed Meta Platforms, has also recognized the law and signed contracts with several French publishers.
This lawsuit highlights the ongoing tension between news agencies and social media platforms over compensation for news content, which could significantly impact the landscape of news distribution in the digital age.
