The Facts
French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) is suing Elon Musk's X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, over its failure to discuss payment for the distribution of AFP content.
On Wednesday, AFP said it had filed a lawsuit in Paris to compel Twitter to hand over information to allow AFP to determine appropriate compensation for content sharing.
The Spin
Narrative A
AFP is right to take legal action against Twitter for refusing to pay for using AFP-authored content. As per French law, publishers are entitled to compensation from digital platforms that distribute their content without paying for the privilege. Musk needs to pay up and recognize the value news outlets bring to his platform.
Narrative B
The French copyright case against Twitter is bizarre. X helps news agencies generate traffic to their site so that they can make advertising revenue that social media platforms don't. Social media platforms essentially provide a service while gaining nothing in return. Enforcing the "neighboring rights" law would be unfair to X.
