In response to proposed state legislation mandating payment from big tech firms to news publishers for their content, Google announced in a blog post on Friday that it is removing links to California news websites. This move, according to the company, is a “test” aimed at assessing the impact of the legislation on its product experience. Google clarified that only a small percentage of California users would be affected by this action.

The proposed California Journalism Preservation Act, introduced in March 2023 and pending a hearing by the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee, would necessitate digital platforms like Google and Meta to remit a “journalism usage fee” to eligible news outlets when utilizing their content alongside digital advertisements.

Meta has yet to respond to CNN’s request for comment.

The introduction of the bill comes amidst a trend where more individuals are turning away from traditional media sources for news and relying more on social media and online platforms. Concerns over the aggregation practices of companies like Google and Meta, and their potential to divert users from news websites, prompted the legislation. News outlets have raised alarms about platforms gaining excessive control over the content users are exposed to.

On Friday evening, California State Senate President Pro-Tempore Mike McGuire, one of the bill’s co-authors, condemned Google’s action as “bullying” and an “abuse of power.” He argued that it not only sets a worrying precedent but also jeopardizes public safety by hindering access to news during emergencies and local incidents.

Supporters of the bill, including lawmakers, contend that tech giants profit from sharing content from smaller and local news publishers without adequately compensating them. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, a co-author of the legislation, emphasized the need for these companies to pay fair market value for the journalism they aggregate from local media outlets.

Charles F. Champion, President and CEO of the California News Publishers Association, accused Google of suppressing California news.

“The fact that one company can shut down the means by which 90% of the public find online content in order to achieve their own political and business ends show just how much policymakers need to act, and act now,” he posted Friday on X. “Google is not above the law, and they should not be allowed to act as if they are.”

“Google’s threat to deny critical information to Californians as a response to proposed legislation … is outrageous,” Chris Argentieri, the president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Times, told CNN in a statement on Saturday. “Google’s response is another data point that actually supports the need for the legislation and shows the merits of the scrutiny they are facing from the U.S. Department of Justice. California has a long history of rejecting bullying tactics of this kind, and I fully expect the result in this case will be no different.”

Google has long argued against what it calls a “link tax.”

“As we’ve shared when other countries have considered similar proposals, the uncapped financial exposure created by CJPA would be unworkable,” said Jaffer Zaidi, Vice President of Global News Partnerships at Google, said in Friday’s blog post. “If enacted, CJPA in its current form would create a level of business uncertainty that no company could accept.”

Alphabet disclosed a revenue of $307.4 billion in 2023.

Regarding a similar bill passed in Canada in June 2023, Google initially resisted, stating it would “remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News, and Discover products in Canada.” By November, the company updated its stance, indicating it was engaged in the exemption process with the Canadian government while continuing to drive traffic to Canadian publishers. Google informed CNN on Saturday that it was still navigating the exemption process but had finalized an agreement with the Canadian government, with the law scheduled for enactment in June.

Google responded similarly to a 2021 Australian law that mandated platforms to compensate Australian news outlets for content usage. Prior to the law’s passage, Google warned in an open letter that it might cease offering Google Search in Australia if the legislation remained unchanged. Eventually, Google struck “voluntary commercial agreements with a significant number of news media organizations,” as stated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the legislation’s author. Google announced it would remunerate publishers through its Google News Showcase instead of compensating them for links.