Understanding Bill C-18: Canada’s Online News Act explained

Canada`s Bill C-18 has passed into law, requiring compensation deals to be struck between tech companies and news organizations if they want to host links to Canadian news content – a framework that Google and Meta have rejected, both stating they will instead be blocking Canadian news content.

But what does this bill, and the responses from the tech giants, actually mean for Canadians?

What is Bill C-18?

Bill C-18, or the Online News Act, lays out a framework that would require digital giants such as Google and Meta to develop deals with Canadian news sites for previewing and sharing their online news content.

“The Bill introduces a new bargaining framework intended to support news businesses to secure fair compensation when their news content is made available by dominant digital news intermediaries and generates economic gain,” an explanatory note from the government says. “It seeks to support balanced negotiations between the businesses that operate dominant digital news intermediaries and the businesses responsible for the news outlets that produce this news content.”

The bill would require tech companies to compensate Canadian news organizations when their content appears on their platforms. The federal government says the bill is to help the Canadian news industry, which has seen falling subscriptions and ad revenue overtime as those profits shift to Google and Facebook.

According to an Angus Reid report released earlier this month, 85 per cent of Canadians do not pay for any online news subscription, and Canadians under the age of 64 usually check social media sites like Facebook and Reddit first to get their news.

According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, which provides economic and financial analysis to the government as an independent body, the bill would shift around $329 million to the Canadian news industry.

When did does Bill C-18 go into effect?

The bill became law in June 2022, and is expected to come into force in the next six months.

How have tech giants reacted?

Both Google and Meta – the company behind Facebook and Instagram – have stated that they will be removing links to Canadian news from their platform in response to the law, before the end of the year.

Google called the bill a “link tax,” saying that it “breaks the way the web and search engines have worked for more than 30 years.”

Where will news be blocked?

Links to Canadian news platforms will not be shared on Google, Facebook or Instagram when Bill C-18 comes into effect.

According to a statement from Google on June 29, links to Canadian news will be removed from their Search, News and Discover products.

The company noted that this won`t apply to their SOS Alerts, which connect Google users to the most relevant safety information in the event of a crisis such as a forest fire, flood or earthquake.

Meta stated in an update posted on June 22 that news availability would be ending on their sites for all users in Canada “prior to the Online News Act (Bill C-18) taking effect”. They are currently “conducting product tests to help us build an effective product solution to end news availability as a result of C-18.”

The tests currently only affect a “small percentage of users in Canada.”

Google is also limiting news access right now to a small amount of Canadian users in order to test out how to block news links more broadly.

“We’re briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users,” a Google spokesperson told CTVNews.ca in February.

What news organizations are impacted?

While it`s common sense that publications that make the delivery of news their main focus will be affected by Google and Meta blocking their content, the limits of what counts as a news website in the eyes of this new law isn`t completely clear yet.

Google notes that they will not be hosting links to content that has been defined as an “eligible news business” by Bill C-18.

The legislation states that news businesses are considered eligible as long as they fall under certain requirements, including producing news content of “public interest”, employing two or more journalists in Canada, operating in Canada and following the code of ethics of a recognized journalistic association or its own code of ethics which aligns with journalistic integrity.

An eligible news business also must produce news content “that is not primarily focused on a particular topic such as industry-specific news, sports, recreation, arts, lifestyle or entertainment,” according to Bill C-18, suggesting that lifestyle magazines and similar publications may not be affected by Google and Meta blocks.

Does this mean Canadians won`t have access to news websites at all?

Many people head straight to Google when they want to find out what is going on in the world, but a Google search isn`t the most direct way to find your news.

Canadians will still be able to access Canadian news sources by navigating directly to their websites.

Google itself recommends Canadians “visit their preferred news outlets’ websites directly – or download their app – and sign up for newsletters or subscriptions so that they can stay up to date with the latest news directly from the sources that matter most to them.”

Bookmarking your most frequently visited news websites now will allow you to navigate to them quickly even if their links are not being shared when you search a topic on Google.

Canadians will also still be able to see news from international news sources through Google.

How do I know if my news is being blocked?

Around four per cent of Google users are currently affected by their testing. In order to tell if news links are being blocked for you, simply go to the Google search engine and type in search terms connected to Canada, such as “Ottawa” or “Trudeau” and then click on Google`s “News” tab. If mostly news sources from the U.S. pop up, you`re likely among the users who are not being shown links to Canadian news outlets.

In a June 1 post, Meta stated that users who are affected by their tests to block Canadian news sources will receive notifications.

“Throughout the testing period, which will run for several weeks, a small percentage of people in Canada who are enrolled in testing will be notified if they attempt to share news content,” the company stated. 

What are supporters and critics saying about Bill C-18?

Supporters of the Liberal governments` bill say that it is a way to keep tech giants in check and cut into their digital dominance, and that journalists should be compensated for their work being used to help tech giants bring in more eyes and thus more ad revenue.

Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told CTV`s Power Play in late June that tech companies have gotten too powerful.

“Around 500 newsrooms closed their doors across the country… and they will continue closing their doors,” Rodriguez said. “The status quo is not working because the money is going to the tech giants.”

Last year. Meta made more than $23 billion in profit while Alphabet, Google’s parent company, made close to $60 billion.

The report also found that 82 per cent of Canadians agree “too few tech companies have too much power over the internet.”

However, 63 per cent are worried about losing access to Canadian news on Facebook and Google.

Some critics are concerned that Google and Meta blocking news links from Canadian news sources will lead to a drop in media literacy.

Tech and cybersecurity expert Ritesh Kotak told CTV News Channel in late June that the removal of news from Google and Meta’s platforms could lead users to rely on unverified stories, making “deciphering fact from fiction” that much more difficult.

“This is a serious problem for news organizations and also members of the public,” he said, adding that news outlets should do more to promote their own platforms.