The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pablo Rodriguez, still hopes that his government can find a favorable outcome in the confrontation with Google and Meta.
But if these web giants pull news from their platforms in response to ‘Bill C-18,’ the minister promises that the Liberal government will ensure newsrooms have the resources they need so journalists can continue to do their job.
The Online News Act was passed last week, but will come into effect in six months. It will then force Google and Meta to pay the news media for the news they share or otherwise reuse on their platforms. These web giants should negotiate with media companies a fair price for this content.
As soon as the law was passed in Ottawa on June 22, the giant Meta announced that it will end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada by the end of the year. Google has hinted that it might also remove news from its search engines.
Minister Rodriguez said he recently had a constructive but difficult conversation with Google, which asked for more clarity on the law.
He wouldn’t say how his government will ensure newsrooms across the country have the resources they need to do their job well, but he said all options are on the table.
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