Feds Try To Avoid Australian Pitfalls In Online News Bill Quesnel Cariboo Observer

Cultural Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez on Tuesday unveiled a bill based on an Australian law that requires digital platforms such as Google to pay Canadian media to reuse their journalism. The digital giants will have six months to negotiate private deals to compensate the Canadian media or force them to reach an agreement under the terms of the bill. The tech giants could face fines of up to $ 15 million a day if they do not comply. The Australian law provoked strong reactions last year, including from Facebook, which protested by blocking news on its platform across Australia. The social networking platform lifted the ban on Australians viewing and sharing news following an agreement with the government. An official at Rodriguez’s Heritage Department, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters not public, said the government had studied the Australian bill and had spoken to Australian officials repeatedly. The Heritage official said that although he uses Australian law as a model, the government is taking a more cautious approach to the C-18 bill, as it is known in Parliament. Canada’s bill, government officials say, will give ministers less power than in Australia, with more decisions being handed over to an independent regulator, the Canadian Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission. They say the Canadian bill makes it clear that digital companies will have the freedom to enter into private agreements with print and other media, which must meet certain criteria. READ ALSO: Key questions answered about new bill forcing tech giants to pay for content The Canadian bill also sets out clearer terms – such as the type of platforms and news agencies the law will apply – to leave less room for ambiguity and make the system more transparent than in Australia, the official said. Heritage. However, experts say that Canada’s account is heavier in some respects and will make the platforms pay for audiovisual news content as well, unlike Australia. Michael Geist, University of Ottawa in Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law, predicts that Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Google will strongly oppose efforts to force them to pay for links. on news sites published on their platforms. He suggested that if a link was attached to Internet links, Internet companies could require news platforms to compensate them for posting links to their journalism – not the other way around. “The bill requires mandatory payments for links, but links should not be offset at all,” he said. “This hurts the spread of information in Canada.” Geist said the bill creates an incentive for news organizations to post more and more links to Facebook because they could receive more compensation for doing so. He said he could also give digital giants power over the way media outlets spend their money. The Canadian bill says part of the compensation should be used to support the production of local, regional and national news, as well as indigenous and racial content. Geist said the platforms could insist on a fixed percentage of funds for these goals. Meta and Google said they were still considering the bill and declined to comment. Meta said Tuesday that links to news articles and previews make up only 4% of what people see on their Facebook feed, and that the company has committed $ 18 million over the past seven years to media programs and partnerships in Canada. . Launching the bill, Rodriguez said he would strengthen Canada’s news industry, which is in danger of closing 451 news agencies by 2008. At least a third of news outlets in Canada have disappeared since 2010, he added. Meanwhile, billions of advertising dollars have migrated from traditional news sources to technology platforms. Online advertising revenue reached $ 9.7 billion in 2020, with Google and Facebook accounting for 80%, according to the Department of Cultural Heritage. The bill will also strengthen the bargaining power of media outlets and address market imbalances. It will allow news organizations, large and small, to work together to negotiate collectively with digital giants for compensation. If they fail to reach an agreement within six months, the technology platforms will be forced to mediate with news agencies and, if that does not work, then to binding arbitration. The bill was welcomed by News Media Canada, which represents more than 500 print and digital titles across Canada, saying it “leveled the playing field and gave Canadian news publishers a fair shot and did not require additional taxpayer funds.” “This approach has been a resounding success in Australia, where publishers large and small are entering into meaningful content licensing agreements,” Jamie Irving, president of News Media Canada, said on Tuesday. “Reliable information is needed today more than ever, and the real news reported by real journalists costs real money.” READ ALSO: National media demands equal competition with Google and Facebook ——— Meta is funding a scholarship that supports journalism positions in the Canadian press. Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. CanadaMedia industry social media

title: “Feds Try To Avoid Australian Pitfalls In Online News Bill Quesnel Cariboo Observer " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-28” author: “Jason Martin”

Cultural Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez on Tuesday unveiled a bill based on an Australian law that requires digital platforms such as Google to pay Canadian media to reuse their journalism. The digital giants will have six months to negotiate private deals to compensate the Canadian media or force them to reach an agreement under the terms of the bill. The tech giants could face fines of up to $ 15 million a day if they do not comply. The Australian law provoked strong reactions last year, including from Facebook, which protested by blocking news on its platform across Australia. The social networking platform lifted the ban on Australians viewing and sharing news following an agreement with the government. An official at Rodriguez’s Heritage Department, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters not public, said the government had studied the Australian bill and had spoken to Australian officials repeatedly. The Heritage official said that although he uses Australian law as a model, the government is taking a more cautious approach to the C-18 bill, as it is known in Parliament. Canada’s bill, government officials say, will give ministers less power than in Australia, with more decisions being handed over to an independent regulator, the Canadian Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission. They say the Canadian bill makes it clear that digital companies will have the freedom to enter into private agreements with print and other media, which must meet certain criteria. READ ALSO: Key questions answered about new bill forcing tech giants to pay for content The Canadian bill also sets out clearer terms – such as the type of platforms and news agencies the law will apply – to leave less room for ambiguity and make the system more transparent than in Australia, the official said. Heritage. However, experts say that Canada’s account is heavier in some respects and will make the platforms pay for audiovisual news content as well, unlike Australia. Michael Geist, University of Ottawa in Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law, predicts that Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and Google will strongly oppose efforts to force them to pay for links. on news sites published on their platforms. He suggested that if a link was attached to Internet links, Internet companies could require news platforms to compensate them for posting links to their journalism – not the other way around. “The bill requires mandatory payments for links, but links should not be offset at all,” he said. “This hurts the spread of information in Canada.” Geist said the bill creates an incentive for news organizations to post more and more links to Facebook because they could receive more compensation for doing so. He said he could also give digital giants power over the way media outlets spend their money. The Canadian bill says part of the compensation should be used to support the production of local, regional and national news, as well as indigenous and racial content. Geist said the platforms could insist on a fixed percentage of funds for these goals. Meta and Google said they were still considering the bill and declined to comment. Meta said Tuesday that links to news articles and previews make up only 4% of what people see on their Facebook feed, and that the company has committed $ 18 million over the past seven years to media programs and partnerships in Canada. . Launching the bill, Rodriguez said he would strengthen Canada’s news industry, which is in danger of closing 451 news agencies by 2008. At least a third of news outlets in Canada have disappeared since 2010, he added. Meanwhile, billions of advertising dollars have migrated from traditional news sources to technology platforms. Online advertising revenue reached $ 9.7 billion in 2020, with Google and Facebook accounting for 80%, according to the Department of Cultural Heritage. The bill will also strengthen the bargaining power of media outlets and address market imbalances. It will allow news organizations, large and small, to work together to negotiate collectively with digital giants for compensation. If they fail to reach an agreement within six months, the technology platforms will be forced to mediate with news agencies and, if that does not work, then to binding arbitration. The bill was welcomed by News Media Canada, which represents more than 500 print and digital titles across Canada, saying it “leveled the playing field and gave Canadian news publishers a fair shot and did not require additional taxpayer funds.” “This approach has been a resounding success in Australia, where publishers large and small are entering into meaningful content licensing agreements,” Jamie Irving, president of News Media Canada, said on Tuesday. “Reliable information is needed today more than ever, and the real news reported by real journalists costs real money.” READ ALSO: National media demands equal competition with Google and Facebook ——— Meta is funding a scholarship that supports journalism positions in the Canadian press. Marie Woolf, The Canadian Press Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. CanadaMedia industry social media