The Big Story 

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced a bill Thursday that aims to let news outlets collectively negotiate with dominant tech platforms to be compensated for distributing their content.

© Greg Nash

The Thursday markup brought together unlikely allies. 

The panel advanced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) in a 13-7 vote, with Sen. John Kennedy (La.), the bill’s lead GOP sponsor, as well as Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) joining most Democrats in advancing the bill. 

Sen. Alex Padilla (Calif.) was the only Democrat on the panel to vote against advancing the bill. 

The proposal advanced last session, as well, with bipartisan support, but it was not brought to a floor vote before the end of the session. 

One key concern raised by those opposed to the bill centered on content moderation.

Republicans opposed to the measure argued it would lead companies to censor content with an anti-conservative bias. 

“I’m afraid the bill would give media and Big Tech companies a free pass to censor the views of conservatives,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said.

Read more in a full report at TheHill.com. 

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Rebecca Klar and Ines Kagubare — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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