(OTTAWA) A Google spokesperson has confirmed that the US tech company is blocking some Canadian users from viewing news content in response to the Liberal government’s online news bill.
The online news bill, also known as Bill C-18, would force digital giants such as Google and Facebook-owner Meta to negotiate deals that would compensate Canadian news outlets for reposting of their content on their platforms.
The company says it limits access to online news content to less than 4% of its Canadian users of its products, including its popular search engine and Discover feature on Android devices that stream news and sports reports.
The company says all types of news content are affected by the test, which will last about five weeks, including content created by Canadian broadcasters and newspapers.
“We are briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users,” Google spokesperson Shay Purdy said in a written statement Wednesday.
The company conducts thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes to its search engine, he added.
“We have been completely transparent about our concern that C-18 is too broad and, if not amended, could impact the products Canadians use and rely on every day,” Mr. Purdy said.
“We remain committed to supporting a sustainable future for news in Canada and to delivering solutions that fix Bill C-18,” he added.
Last year, this company threatened to block news from its site in response to the bill.
A spokeswoman for Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Canadians would not be intimidated and called it disappointing that Google is borrowing from Meta’s playbook.
“It didn’t work in Australia, and it won’t work here because Canadians won’t be intimidated. At the end of the day, all we’re asking of the tech giants is to compensate journalists for using their work,” spokeswoman Laura Scaffidi said in a statement Wednesday.
“Canadians need access to quality factual news locally and nationally, which is why we introduced the Online News Act. Tech giants need to be more transparent and accountable to Canadians,” she added.
Rodriguez argued that the bill, which is similar to legislation passed by Australia in 2021, will “enhance fairness” in the digital news marketplace by creating a framework and process for negotiation that allows online giants to pay media.
Google had, however, raised concerns before a House of Commons committee that the future law would not require publishers to meet basic journalistic standards, that it would favor large publishers over smaller outlets. and that it could lead to the proliferation of “cheap clickbait and shoddy content” over public interest journalism.
The company said it would prefer to contribute to a fund, similar to the Canada Media Fund, which would indirectly pay news publishers.
The bill passed the House of Commons in December and is expected to be considered in the Senate in the coming months.