The Canadian bill would force tech companies like Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Meta (Facebook’s parent company) to negotiate commercial deals and pay Canadian news publishers for articles that appear on their platforms, part of a broader global trend to force tech companies to pay for news.
Facebook and Google could be forced to pay for using content from Canadian news organizations. Photo: GI
Google would be forced to remove links to news articles found in Canadian search results if the bill passes, according to Google's vice president of news Richard Gingras.
Meanwhile, Rachel Curran, Meta's head of public policy in Canada, said Meta would also stop providing news content in Canada if the bill passes.
Gingras reported that Google generated more than 3.6 billion link actions to articles from Canadian news organizations last year. Meanwhile, Curran said Facebook feeds generated more than 1.9 billion clicks for Canadian news publishers in the 12 months ending in April 2022.
This combination once helped news agencies and technology platforms grow together. However, the trend of technology platforms and social networks "suffocating" news organizations and newspapers is becoming more serious.
Still, Curran from Meta stated that: “A framework that requires us to compensate news publishers for links or news content they voluntarily place on our platform is unworkable.”
Canada's proposal is similar to a groundbreaking law Australia passed in 2021 that also prompted Google and Facebook to threaten to cut off their services in the country. Both eventually reached agreements with Australian media companies after the law was introduced.
This year, Google tested blocking access to news for some Canadian users as a precautionary response to the law's future passage, a move that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a "terrible mistake."
The bill, introduced by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez in April 2022, is Canada's latest push to force social media platforms like Google and Facebook to pay for linking to news content.
“All we ask tech giants like Facebook and Google to do is negotiate fair deals with news organizations when they profit from their work,” said Laura Scaffidi, a spokesperson for the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Hoang Hai (according to SBC, Reuters)
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