(Toronto Star) Google has followed fellow tech giant Meta in announcing it will block Canadian news content from its search engine in Canada after days of negotiations with the Liberal government hit an impasse over its recently passed online news bill.
“We have been saying for over a year that this is the wrong approach to supporting journalism in Canada and may result in significant changes to our products,” a blog post from Kent Walker, the company’s president of global affairs, read Thursday.
“We have now informed the government that when the law takes effect, we unfortunately will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada, and that C-18 will also make it untenable for us to continue offering our Google News Showcase product in Canada.”
The Online News Act passed last Thursday and would force platforms like Google and Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, to strike deals with Canadian media publishers for sharing, previewing and directing users to online news content. The Liberals say the law is meant to end tech titans’ dominance of the digital advertising market, stating that in 2020, both platforms took in more than 80 per cent of Canadian online advertising revenues as the country’s journalism industry faced hundreds of closures. Under the new framework, platforms would face financial penalties for failing to comply with the legislation.
A number of news publishers (including Torstar, which publishes the Toronto Star) have lobbied Ottawa in favour of the legislation, and already have deals in place with both companies for the sharing and repurposing of their content. Torstar, along with other publishers, has partnered with Google for its News Showcase service, which helps boost the profile of trusted publishers.
When will my Canadian news be cut off?
It is expected that the law, previously known as Bill C-18, will come into effect in six months’ time, which is when Google is set to pull the trigger. The company had been hoping for specific reassurances from Ottawa before the regulatory process – where further details regarding how the law will work in practice will be finalized – gets underway.
“Last week, just as the bill was approaching final passage and royal assent, the government agreed to discuss the possibility of addressing some of the most critical issues, which we welcomed. In that discussion, we asked for clarity on financial expectations platforms face for simply linking to news, as well as a specific, viable path towards exemption based on our programs to support news and our commercial agreements with publishers,” Walker’s post notes.
