The federal government in Ottawa is drafting legislation that would require technology
companies to pay Canadian news publishers for content.
The draft legislation is the latest move by Ottawa to help struggling Canadian media companies
that continue to lose online advertising revenue to companies such as Google parent Alphabet
(GOOGL) and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (FB).
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said he will introduce a bill called the “Online News Act” to
ensure companies such as like Alphabet and Meta Platforms compensate Canadian news
organizations for their content through privately negotiated deals.
The law could benefit Canadian media companies such as Postmedia Network (PNC) and
Torstar, among others.
The Canadian effort follows Australian legislation last year that requires online platforms to pay
local news publishers, and Rodriguez said Canada studied the Australian law extensively.
Australia’s law led to a multiyear deal between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and Facebook,
after the social media giant started restricting the sharing of news articles.
U.S. lawmakers have also introduced similar legislation, while news publishers have lobbied in
Europe for something modeled on the Australian law.
Canada’s new law would enable news businesses to bargain in groups on issues including the
ways that platforms reproduce or facilitate access to news content, senior government officials
said at a press conference.
The proposed legislation, which would be enforced by the Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), is designed to help a Canadian media sector that
saw 450 outlets close between 2008 and 2021, according to the federal government.
The bill comes two months after Rodriguez’s separate proposal to amend the country’s
Broadcasting Act to require online streaming services such as Netflix (NFLX) and Spotify
(SPOT) pay into local funds to support Canadian artists. The “Online Streaming Act” is currently
under review in Parliament.
