Canada Introduces New Regulations for Online News Platforms, Metasearch Engines and Google Express Concern
On Friday, Ottawa provided details on the practical implementation of a new law that mandates digital giants to compensate publishers for news content. The announcement shed light on the potential financial implications for Meta and Google.
The bill aims to shore up the struggling Canadian news sector, which has seen advertising dollars and hundreds of publications shuttered over the past decade.
In practice, it only targets Google and Meta, which control about 80 percent of all online advertising revenue in Canada.
The government estimates it could pay the two companies a total of C$230 million ($170 million) if they are required to enter into fair trade agreements with Canadian outlets for news and information shared on their platforms, or face binding arbitration.
Under the draft rules released Friday, the measures would apply to companies with global annual revenue of more than $1 billion, which use a search engine or social media platform actively used by at least 20 million Canadians, and which distribute news.
Meta responded by calling the bill “fundamentally flawed” and vowed to continue to block access to news articles in Canada on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. It started doing this on August 1st.
Google, which has also expressed opposition to the online news law, said it would “carefully examine the proposed regulations to assess whether they address (its) major structural challenges.”
Cultural Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge stated that Canadians have begun to trust digital platforms for news and information.
“These tech platforms need to act responsibly and support the sharing of news that benefits them and Canadians,” he said.
“The tech giants can and must do their bit – nothing more.”
