, one expert said an agreement between the federal government and the social media giant seems unlikely – but an agreement with Google is possible.
Michael Geist, Canada research chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said he “doesn’t see much hope of an agreement” between Meta and the federal government. “Reports suggest some discussion around the regulations that might provide Google with cost certainty on the payments. That represents a major departure for the government but might be enough to find a middle ground,” Geist said.
“Facebook knows they have no obligations under the Act right now. They have not participated in the regulatory process,” Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge said in a written statement to BNNBloomberg.ca. Google confirmed in a statement to BNNBloomberg.ca last week that talks with the government were ongoing, but noted concerns that the regulatory process will not be sufficient to resolve current “structural issues” with the Online News Act. Ricard Gil, a professor of business economics at the Queen’s University Smith School of Business, told with BNNBloomberg.ca that all sides must enter negotiations in order to find a solution.