When will Canadian news disappear from Google, Facebook? What the Bill C-18 rift means for you
CBC
How will you get the news now?
That's a question many Canadians may be asking after tech companies Google and Meta, which owns the social media giants Facebook and Instagram, vowed to remove links to Canadian journalism.
It's in retaliation for the Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, that will make them strike agreements with media outlets for "fair compensation" when their news content is shared on the tech companies' platforms.
Not everyone agrees this is the best way to help an industry that has seen its advertising revenue decline. But at the centre of the battle over Bill C-18 is the average news consumer, who, like many Canadians, relies on Google and Facebook to find journalism that matters to them.
Here's what you need to know about the Online News Act and if — and when — you may have to change your news consumption habits.
Google, in a statement Thursday, said it amounts to a "link tax," while Meta insisted Canadian news organizations are already benefiting from "free marketing" worth more than $230 million in the form of clicks from links visible on Facebook feeds.
Paul Deegan, president and CEO of News Media Canada, an advocacy association representing news outlets, acknowledges Google and Facebook "have been good partners" and their platforms drive traffic to news websites.
"We just want to be able to negotiate fairly, on a commercial basis, for the value of our content," Deegan said in an interview with CBC News Network.
But Alfred Hermida, a journalism professor at the University of British Columbia, believes C-18 is a "flawed piece of legislation" that doesn't address greater issues in the news industry, such as the concentration of private media ownership.
"It doesn't take into account the record profits of media conglomerates like Bell and Rogers," he said in a phone interview. "And it doesn't really do anything to support for more than 140 journalism startups that have been created in Canada since the year 2000."
Reacting to Google's announcement Thursday, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told CBC News conversations with the company are ongoing and the "clarity" it wants about the Online News Act will come as the government hammers out regulations.
Google, in its statement Thursday, said it's not convinced. Meta isn't optimistic either.
Rachel Curran, Meta Canada's head of public policy, told CBC's Power and Politics on Tuesday there were "no negotiations currently" between the company and the federal government.
The law will come into effect at the end of this year, and that's when Google said it will start blocking Canadian news links on its search, news and discover products.
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