Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking aim at Google for limiting some Canadians’ access to news content.
“It really surprises me that Google has decided that [it] would rather prevent Canadians from accessing news than actually paying journalists for the work they do,” Trudeau said at a news conference last week. “I think that’s a terrible mistake and I know Canadians expect journalists to be well paid for the work they do.”
Google’s move is a possible response to Bill C-18. Known as the Online News Act, the bill will make platforms, including Google, pay news sites for publishing their content. The company told The Canadian Press the test only impacts four percent of Canadians and focuses on the search engine and Google Discover on Android.
Google further defended its actions, stating it conducts thousands of tests each year.
“We’ve been fully transparent about our concern that C-18 is overly broad and, if unchanged, could impact products Canadians use and rely on every day,” a Google spokesperson told Cartt.ca. “We remain committed to supporting a sustainable future for news in Canada and offering solutions that fix Bill C-18.”
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Source: The Canadian Press Via: Cartt.ca
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