Google will block news in Canada in response to bill – 06/29/2023 – Market

Google said on Thursday it would remove links to Canadian news from search results and other company products when the law requiring big techs to pay media companies takes effect in the country.

Google joins Facebook owner Meta in announcing the end of access to news for Canadian users following the passage of the C-18 Act, or the Online News Act, last week. The law is due to take effect in six months.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who introduced the bill last year, said platforms have no immediate obligations and that the government is open to consultations on the regulatory and implementation process.

Canadian media companies have called for stricter regulation of technology companies to prevent their businesses from being pushed out of the online advertising market.

“We are now informing the government that when the law takes effect, we will unfortunately have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discovery products in Canada,” Google said in the official blog.

“We do not take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe it is important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible.”

The law sets out rules to force platforms like Facebook and Google to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content, a measure similar to a law passed in Australia in 2021.

US technology companies have said the proposals are unsustainable for their businesses.

Google has argued that Canada’s law is broader than those in Australia and Europe, saying it sets a price for news links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that don’t produce news.

The search engine giant has proposed that the bill be revised to make displaying news content, rather than links, the basis for payment and to specify that only companies that produce news and adhere to journalistic standards are eligible.