Pompeo: All Republicans Should Oppose ‘Cramming’ Media Cartel Bill into an Unrelated Defense Bill

Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State and Central Intelligence Agency director, on Tuesday called on all Republicans to oppose a Democrat attempt to cram a bill that would create a mainstream media cartel into an unrelated defense bill.

“Giving the media cartel power is bad enough. The JCPA’s ‘China loophole’ means this will benefit our adversaries. All Republicans should oppose cramming this bad bill in the NDAA,” Pompeo tweeted.

The bill is known as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, or JCPA, and would allow news media to create a collective bargaining cartel to negotiate with Big Tech companies on the use of their content. The problem is the cartel would exclude certain independent and conservative media and hurt their consumers.

The JCPA also contains a loophole that would benefit Chinese Communist Party (CCP) media outlets. Under the bill, U.S. tech companies would be forced to carry and pay media outlets that contain foreign propaganda.

For example, mainstream media publications such as Time and The Los Angeles Times partner with CCP-controlled outlets such as China Daily and feature their articles along with their own content.

The JCPA does not allow publications “owned or controlled” by foreign powers, but does not say anything about Chinese or Russian-controlled outlets that partner with or pay publications in the U.S. to carry their propaganda.

While Big Tech has tried to crack down on foreign propaganda to some extent, content featured on mainstream media outlet’s websites, including paid advertising, would get a free pass.

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