Google warns that the federal government’s online news bill could force it to subsidize non-authoritative or biased news sources, such as Russia’s state-sponsored Sputnik news agency.
But the organization representing the news media industry in Canada says the wording of the bill is strict and specifically excludes channels that promote the interests of an organization.
Google claims that the definition of the bill as a qualifying source of news is so broad that non-professional news outlets with two or more journalists in Canada, including those funded by foreign countries, may be eligible for payment from technology giants.
The online news bill, modeled on a similar law in Australia, is designed to support Canada’s news industry and combat the spread of news from biased or unreliable sources.
The bill, known as the C-18 in parliament, will force technology giants such as Google and Meta to pay for the reuse of news produced by Canadian news organizations.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, pictured here on February 2 in Ottawa, unveiled the government’s online news bill. (Adrian Wilde / Canadian Press)
The proposed legislation will also prevent technology giants from punishing or favoring news organizations with which they have reached agreements.
But Google says it could affect the way it ranks news in its search engine and moderates content.
After the start of the war in Ukraine, it began to limit the visibility of the state-controlled Russian media organization RT, including in the Google News search tool.
The definition is too broad, the company said
Lauren Skeley, a spokeswoman for Google, said the search engine could face “huge fines for presenting the most useful and reliable content to Canadians and imposing our own policies”.
Skeli said the technology giant supports the bill’s central goal, but is concerned that the legislation, as drafted, could have unintended consequences, including forcing it to pay news companies that do not meet journalistic standards.
This could potentially include two people who set up a digital news organization from their basement, foreign-sponsored news groups with a Canadian office, or far-right or far-right news outlets.
“We have to believe that this is not the result that the politicians have planned and we hope to work with them to address these concerns,” Skeli said.
“The legislation, as written, uses an extremely broad definition of eligible news businesses and provisions for ‘undue preferences’, which, when applied in practice, can lead to mandatory payment for content that does not meet basic journalistic standards.” .
But the president of News Media Canada, which represents the country’s media industry, said the proposed law has been carefully worded.
“This is very good legislation that specifically excludes news outlets that promote the interests of an organization instead of producing original news content of general interest,” said Paul Deegan.
“The bill will allow much smaller publishers to come together and negotiate content licensing agreements with major technology companies. We urge parliamentarians from all parties to work together and pass this urgently needed legislation before the summer holidays.”
The regulation is left to the CRTC
Canadian Heritage said in a statement that “it is not the role of government to decide what is and is not online news.”
“There is an objective set of criteria removed from political decision-making in order to identify appropriate news organizations. “A free and independent press is essential for democracy,” it said.
When it announced Bill C-18, the federal government said the legislation would guarantee Canadians access to quality, fact-based news amid growing disinformation and public distrust.
The broadcast regulator, the Canadian Broadcasting Commission, will be tasked with determining what qualifies as a news organization.
The bill says that to qualify, a newsgroup must be designated as a Canadian journalism organization under the Income Tax Act or produce news content primarily on matters of common interest, and manage and hire two or more journalists in Canada.
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