Tag: Online News Act

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…


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…


EXPLAINER: Now That Bill C-18 Has Passed, Why Is Meta Blocking Canadian News?

On the same day that the Liberal government’s Bill C-18 received royal assent and passed into law, U.S. tech giant Meta announced it would be blocking content from news outlets for Canadian users in order to comply with the new legislation. The Online News Act requires that online platforms and digital news intermediaries like Google and…


Heritage Minister Rejects Senate Amendment to Bill C-18 That Aimed to Prevent Facebook From Blocking Canadian News

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has rejected a Senate amendment to the Online News Act, Bill C-18, that aimed to prevent Facebook from blocking news for Canadian readers on its platform in reaction to the bill. Speaking in the House of Commons on June 19, Rodriguez accepted most of the Senate’s proposed amendments to the bill,…


Meta Tests Blocking News Content for Some Canadian Users in Response to Liberals’ Online News Bill

Meta has begun a test that will temporarily block access to news content for some Canadian users on its Facebook and Instagram platforms in response to the Online News Act, a Liberal government bill, and Canadian publishers are not happy. The legislation, Bill C-18, would require digital giants such as Google and Meta to pay Canadian news organizations…