The federal government’s proposed law requiring internet giants to negotiate commercial agreements with Canadian media disturbs Meta, Facebook parent company, which threatens to end the sharing of Canadian news content on its platform.
We believe the Online News Act misrepresents the relationship between platforms and news publishers, and we call on the government to review its approach to help create a more equitable and sustainable news industry,” wrote in a post from Marc Dinsdale, head of media partnerships at Meta Canada, last Friday. (Source : La Presse)
The passage of the Online News Act (Bill C-18) could block news sharing on the platform in Canada, he said, adding he regretted that the company was not invited to communicate their concerns to the government.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez was unimpressed by these threats. On Monday, he accused Facebook and other internet giants of trying to intimidate the federal government and, by extension, Canadians.
“And that doesn’t work,” he said in an interview with Radio-Canada’s Midi Info program hosted by Alec Castonguay. (Source: La Presse)
He recalled that under his bill, the web giants, which occupy a dominant position, must negotiate fair agreements with the news media.
Right now, people are sharing journalistic work on Facebook, on Google, without receiving a penny. […] The platforms take advantage of the presence of this journalistic content to attract people, get traffic, without having to pay a penny. And this traffic allows them to make money and sell more expensive advertising, said Pablo Rodriguez. (Source: La Presse)
Online News Act (Bill C-18)
Today, many Canadians access news content through digital intermediaries. Bill C-18 would enact the Online News Act (the Act), which proposes a regime to regulate digital platforms that act as intermediaries in Canada’s news media ecosystem in order to enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news market. The Bill introduces a new bargaining framework intended to support news businesses to secure fair compensation when their news content is made available by dominant digital news intermediaries and generates economic gain. It seeks to support balanced negotiations between the businesses that operate dominant digital news intermediaries and the businesses responsible for the news outlets that produce this news content. If one party initiates it, a final offer arbitration process would be used as a last resort to address scenarios in which negotiated agreements are not reached. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission would support and oversee the administration of the regime. (Source: (Bill C-18))
