Opinion: Google’s hardball tactics against California news outlets show why it should be regulated

Whatever happened to Google’s “Don’t be evil” motto?

That corporate maxim is apparently gone, and the internet behemoth has decided to display its super villain side. The latest example is a campaign in California to demonstrate just how easily the company could crush news outlets if state lawmakers dare to pass a law requiring that tech companies, such as Google, share advertising revenue with the journalists who produce much of the content on their platforms.

Google announced that it would remove links to California news websites from search results. The company portrayed the move as a “test” to prepare for the possible implications if the California Journalism Preservation Act passes.

We’re not fooled and neither should anyone else be who cares about the survival of independent news reporting.

Google’s