OTTAWA — The Liberal government is studying regulatory options that would force U.S. tech giants to share its advertising revenues with Canadian media companies but has not yet formed a hard position on the matter, a senior government source says.
Two key decisions in France and Australia in recent weeks could signal a policy shift, some observers say. Canadian associations representing news organizations say similar moves could help struggling local firms. In 2017, Google and Facebook accounted for 71 per cent of the $6.7-billion digital ad market in Canada, compared to just five per cent for newspapers and 24 per cent for “other” advertisers, according to data from News Media Canada.
“Traditional news outlets are losing both advertising and subscription revenues, compromising their ability to produce quality news, while Canadians are increasingly accessing news content through online social media platforms.” “With anything around the digital platform, they have always said we have to wait until there’s an international consensus,” said John Hinds, president and CEO of News Media Canada, an industry association.
Some observers speculate that Ottawa could be hesitant to target international tech giants after strict privacy measures introduced in various European countries drew heated criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Rich people globally (well mostly American and British) trying to screw the everyday guy over. They can’t beat Google and Facebook so they want them to give money over and cripple everyone else. Nice. And we sit around waiting for the withdrawal from our accounts.
Shocker that Ottawa doesn’t know what to do. Wake me up when they can do like anything at all that’s beneficial for Canada!
So they won’t be paying this bribe quite as directly as the last one.
Canadian press ONLY!!!!!!!