TORONTO, Canada– Canada"will not back down" in the face of tech giants' opposition to a new law requiring companies like Google and Meta to pay publishers for news content, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said Friday.
The Online News Act builds on similar legislation introduced in Australia and aims to support a struggling Canadian news sector that has seen a flight of advertising dollars and hundreds of publications closed in the last decade. Meta has called Bill C-18"fundamentally flawed" and, starting in August, blocked news access in Canada to news articles on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
The government has estimated it could cost the pair a combined Can$230 million by requiring them to make fair commercial deals with Canadian outlets for the news and information that is shared on their platforms, or face binding arbitration. "We continue to be concerned that these fundamental issues cannot be resolved through regulation and that legislative changes may be necessary," a spokesman said in an email.