Big Tech uses journalism; Big Tech should pay for it

The powers that Google and Facebook have over economic and political power in society – especially over the news industry-has caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington, DC. After a close election and many worries over the quality of public debate, many ask if social media have played a role in the misinformation that erodes our free press and plagues our democracy.

Nowhere is this power more daunting than in the social media giants' use of news organizations' reporting, which the platforms use without compensation to journalists. Google and Facebook have a duopoly of the distribution of...