Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused tech giants Alphabet and Meta of using “bullying tactics” in response to proposed legislation aimed toward providing financial help to news publishers. The Online News Act seeks to pressure corporations similar to Google and Facebook to negotiate business agreements with information outlets and compensate them for their content.
In anticipation of the legislation, Google and Facebook have conducted checks this year to restrict some Canadian users’ access to and sharing of stories content. Trudeau criticised the companies’ actions, stating, “The fact that these web giants would somewhat reduce off Canadians’ entry to native information than pay their fair share is a real downside, and now they’re resorting to bullying techniques to attempt to get their way. Discount s not going to work.”
Introduced in April 2022, the invoice is modelled on an identical legislation handed in Australia in 2021. Google, nevertheless, argues that the Canadian bill’s provisions are more stringent than those in Australia and Europe, and has proposed amendments “to align with worldwide norms” and address its concerns.
Google spokesperson Shay Purdy responded to Trudeau’s feedback, saying, “We’ve come to the desk with affordable and pragmatic options that may make the invoice work the way it’s supposed to and enhance our investments within the Canadian news ecosystem.” Purdy also famous that the invoice “has some serious issues that make it unworkable for our services and products.”
The proposed legislation, which handed Canada’s House of Commons in December, is currently in the country’s unelected upper chamber of parliament, where it’s unlikely to be blocked. Canadian media organisations are pushing for tighter regulation of tech corporations to prevent them from dominating the internet marketing market and impacting news companies.
Trudeau emphasised the significance of holding these companies accountable, stating, “The varied web giants, like Meta, are posting every year record earnings while, at the same time, local unbiased information is struggling across this nation. We will continue to make sure that these extremely worthwhile corporations contribute to strengthening our democracy.”