Prime Minister Mark Carney is considering replacing or rescinding the Online News Act.
Carney suggested that his government was considering the move while speaking in West Kelowna, B.C., about a loan and other supports for the softwood lumber industry. Per the National Post, Carney was asked about the Online News Act — also known as Bill C-18 — and Carney said that rescinding the legislation was “part of our thinking.”
The core concern is around the bill’s impact on local news, particularly as it limits the reach of news during critical times, such as the ongoing wildfire crisis. Because of the Online News Act, Facebook owner Meta banned sharing news articles on its platform, which has reduced the reach of news organizations.
“This government is a big believer in the value of … local news and the importance of ensuring that that is disseminated as widely and as quickly as possible. So, we will look for all avenues to do that,” Carney said.
Meta wasn’t the only tech company impacted by the bill — it also hit Google, but the search giant took a totally different approach. Instead of banning news like Meta, Google signed a $100 million annual deal with Canadian publishers.
While the bill intended to correct an imbalance between tech giants and news publishers, the approach taken by the legislation hasn’t had the desired impact. Arguably, it also focused on the wrong problem and doesn’t address the monopoly that big tech companies like Google have on the online ad market. Hopefully any change that Carney’s government makes to the Online News Act will include another attempt to fix the problem — one that hopefully won’t hurt publications.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: National Post
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