File photo : SpaceX, Twitter and electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk.//AFP
AFP news agency launched a copyright case in France on Wednesday against social media giant Twitter, recently rebranded X, part of a global struggle to get tech firms to pay for news.
Media groups have long argued that their stories and images bring value to platforms like X, Facebook and Google, meaning they should get a slice of the profits.
Their cause was boosted by a 2019 EU law that allowed for payments for sharing content under a regime called “neighbouring rights”, and Google and Facebook eventually agreed to pay some French media outlets.
But AFP has accused X, owned by billionaire tycoon Elon Musk, of a “clear refusal” to engage in discussions on neighbouring rights.
AFP said in a statement it had lodged a case with a judge in Paris to force the platform to hand over data that would allow…
