The Journalism Competation and Preservation Act, a bipartisan bill, would be the first piece of legislation to fundamentally challenge the business model for social media giants, forcing them to give major journalistic organizations a cut of their ad revenue.

As lawmakers consider whether to attach the measure to end-of-the-year spending packages, Google and Meta are pouring money into two, seemingly contradictory messages in an effort to defeat it.

The full-court strategy plays on left- and right-wing concerns about social media: According to the messaging, the JCPA is simultaneously a legislative proposal backed by liberals to “silence conservative voices” and a far-right effort that will fund pro-Trump voices that are the source of “dangerous misinformation.”

The exaggerated rhetoric was part of a larger campaign to stop any proposal to share advertising revenue, the main source of income for social media and search engine tech companies.