Washington – Ahead of the Illinois General Assembly’s hearing on the state’s proposed Journalism Preservation Act, the Computer & Communications Industry Association submitted a coalition letter opposing SB 3591.
CCIA, along with 11 civil society and industry associations, expressed concerns about the bill’s unconstitutionality, violation of the First Amendment, and conflict with the Supremacy Clause in the letter. Additionally, SB 3591 would impose a link tax and interfere with interstate commerce by imposing this tax on linking to out-of-state content.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association has advocated for policies that support access to information online for more than 25 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA State Director Khara Boender:
“Illinois’ Journalism Preservation Act would establish a tax on the most basic tenets of free information sharing on the internet. Local publications depend on links being shared on search engines and social media and the bill’s vague language would both provide financial incentives for clickbait as well as provide funding to large out-of-state publications and media conglomerates. We urge lawmakers to resist advancing a proposal that will not only fail to achieve its goal, but would have serious negative consequences.”