CJPA news link tax

Google is testing a response to California's "news link tax", which is to remove all news links from what users post on Google platforms.

I see this as a counterattack rather than as a compelled reaction. But it is a fact that nothing can stop Google from retaliating this way. Whether Google's claims are right that the tax encourages further concentration and hollowing out of the newspaper business, I don't know.

The article talks about possible "better alternative" in a vague way, and I have no idea what Google means to suggest. But I do have a suggestion.

Adopt a tax on web sites that display advertising and allow users to post their own messages. The tax should be based on the amount of usage and/or the amount of advertising. The money should be distributed to news organizations in a way that does not depend on who does or does not post links to them. This way, Google and other platforms could not evade the tax by counterattacking.