May 5, 2024
Ottawa will ensure newsrooms have the resources they need if Google, Meta block news: Rodriguez | CBC News

Ottawa will ensure newsrooms have the resources they need if Google, Meta block news: Rodriguez | CBC News

Politics·New

If Google and Meta remove news from their platforms in response to Bill C-18, Canada’s heritage minister says the Liberal government will make sure newsrooms have the necessary resources for journalists to continue their work.

Liberal government’s Online News Act became law last week

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez rises during question period
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez rises in the House of Commons on April 28, 2023 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says he hopes the Liberal government can find a positive outcome with Google and Meta.

But if the companies remove news from their platforms in response to Bill C-18, he says, the Liberal government will make sure newsrooms have the resources they need to allow journalists to continue their work.

The government’s Online News Act became law last week. The law requires Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms.

Meta says it will comply with the law by removing news from its Facebook and Instagram platforms by the end of the year. Google has hinted that removing news from their search engine is a possibility.

Rodriguez says he recently had a constructive but tough conversation with Google, which has been seeking more clarity on the bill.

He wouldn’t say how his government will ensure newsrooms have resources, but he says every option is on the table.

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