Tag: Bill C-18

Ottawa Suspending Its Advertising on Facebook, Instagram as Meta Moves to Block Canadian News

The federal government is suspending all of its advertising on both Facebook and Instagram in response to their parent company, Meta, saying it will block all Canadian news from the platforms later this year once Ottawa’s new Online News Act comes into effect. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez made the announcement while speaking to reporters in…


Canada’s Quebecor to Pull Its Ads From Facebook, Instagram

Telecom and media firm Quebecor said on Wednesday it will pull its ads from Facebook and Instagram, following Meta Platforms’ decision to stop access to news on both the social media platforms in Canada over a law requiring payments to local news publishers. The “Online News Act”, or House of Commons bill C-18, introduced in…


Nearly 80 Canadian Media Outlets Have Closed Since 2020 Despite Federal Subsidies: Document

Nearly 80 Canadian news outlets have closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 despite the federal government previously introducing $595 million in media subsidies intended to support the sector, according to an internal briefing note. “Since the beginning of the pandemic 78 news outlets closed including 65 community newspapers,” said a briefing…


Canada’s Bill C-18 Is an Inadvertent Blow to Censorship

Commentary The Liberal government’s recently passed Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, requires that tech giants like Google and Meta negotiate deals with Canadian media companies like Bell, Postmedia, and Torstar for the right to link to their Canadian content. To Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dismay, the tech giants are refusing to play…


ANALYSIS: Broadcasting Experts Say Online News Act Poorly Drafted and Harmful to News Media

As Google and Meta prepare to remove Canadians’ access to news links on their platforms due to the recently passed Bill C-18, two broadcasting experts say the legislation is poorly composed and will harm media outlets instead of helping them. “It’s a sad, somewhat tragic outcome of a very, very poorly composed piece of legislation…


Heritage Minister ‘Surprised’ Google Intends to Block Canadian News in Response to Bill C-18

Despite Google previously running tests to block some Canadian news in preparation for the passage of Bill C-18, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says he is “surprised” that the tech giant has now announced it intends to block all links to Canadian news outlets once the Online News Act comes into effect in December. Rodriguez said that…


Make Online News Laws and Federal Subsidies a Voting Issue, Tory MP Urges

With ongoing merger talks between two of Canada’s largest news publishers, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner is urging Canadians to make recent legislation and federal subsidies affecting media outlets across the country a voting issue in the next general election. “For all the subsidies and interventions the Liberals have put in place since coming to…


Google to Remove News Links in Canada Over Bill C-18

Google has announced it will remove links to Canadian news on its platforms in Canada due to the recently passed Bill C-18, which forces tech giants to compensate media outlets for content they share online. “Bill C-18 has become law and remains unworkable. The Government has not given us reason to believe that the regulatory…


Ottawa Still Trying to Negotiate With Meta Over News Blocking, Says Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa is still trying to negotiate with tech giant Meta over its threats to block news sharing for Canadians following the passage of legislation obliging big tech companies to pay Canadian news outlets for content shared on the platforms. A spokesperson for Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said on…


Cory Morgan: The Battle Created by Bill C-18 Is Pointless and Destructive, and Didn’t Need to Happen

Commentary Now that Canada’s Bill C-18 has made its way through Parliament and has received royal assent, the battle of wills between the government and social media platforms begins in earnest. The regulations packed into C-18 amount to little more than a shakedown of social media platforms on behalf of financially failing legacy media outlets….