Canada’s Online News Act is one of several global attempts to protect the revenues of news publishers as readers move increasingly online
Agreement hinged on capping the financial liability of digital platforms
On 29 November 2023, the Canadian Government and Google reached an agreement on terms for online news sharing under the Online News Act (Bill C-18). As such, Google is expected to pay approximately C$100m (£58.4m) annually to Canadian news outlets. That figure is substantially lower than the approximately C$172m (£99.7m) that Google would’ve owed under the formula proposed in the Government’s September consultation on implementing the legislation, which factored in firms’ global revenue and share of Canadian GDP. The agreement also includes a provision that would allow Google to negotiate directly with a single group representing all publishers, limiting the need to directly negotiate with individual outlets. Google noted the importance of reaching an agreement that included a “path to an exemption at a clear commitment threshold”, which addressed the firm’s concern that its financial liability would be uncapped going into negotiations.
Google and Meta have used the same tactics in other news negotiations
Before reaching a deal, Google threatened to block news content for Canadian users as of 19 December when the rules for implementation of the act are due to be finalised. The firm had also previously called the framework “unworkable”. Meta employed a similar approach to the Online News Act, threatening to remove news content from Facebook and Instagram for Canadian users. However, Meta followed through on its warning and began blocking content on 2 August 2023 – a move that was heavily criticised by media outlets, as well as consumers. The tactics used by both companies mirror those employed during negotiations with the Australian Government in 2021 in response to its News Media Bargaining Code. Meta briefly blocked news content from its platforms for Australian users in February 2021 shortly before both firms reached a voluntary agreement with news publishers to pay for their content. Meta’s ongoing block on news in Canada is arguably the most extreme outcome in the short history of news bargaining agreements and could impact future negotiations both in Canada and elsewhere.
Similar agreements over news content are being struck around the world
In addition to the laws passed in Canada and Australia, a number of other countries are considering legislation to require tech firms to pay for news content or have supported voluntary agreements between news publishers and tech firms:
In New Zealand, the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill would be modelled on the Australian framework, requiring publishers and platforms to negotiate but not mandating any level of payment for access to news content;
In Germany, Google agreed to pay €3.2m (£2.7m) annually to Corint Media, an umbrella organisation of publishers, on an interim basis while the German Patent and Trade Mark Office considers further liability under a news copyright law;
In the US, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would offer an antitrust exemption to news publishers to collectively bargain with platforms for payment for content; and
In the UK, the Digital Market, Competition and Consumers Bill would empower the CMA’s Digital Markets Unit to mediate agreements between publishers and platforms designated with strategic market status.
While these laws aim to address the increasing instability of news markets globally, some jurisdictions like the EU are instead attempting to legislate around increasing pluralism and stabilising public media funding through bills like the European Media Freedom Act. Regardless of the mechanism used, numerous countries appear intent on addressing the shifts in revenues that result from increasing numbers of consumers accessing news online.
