Canada require Google and Meta to pay media outlets

June 23, 2023
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Canada’s Senate on Thursday passed a bill that will require Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content that they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms.

The bill, which is set to become law, was passed amid a standoff between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government and Silicon Valley tech giants.

Ottawa has said the law creates a level playing field between online advertising giants and the shrinking news industry. And Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has promised to push back on what he describes as “threats” from Facebook and Google to remove journalism from their platforms.

Meta confirmed Thursday that it plans to comply with the bill by ending news availability on Facebook and Instagram for its Canadian users, as it had previously suggested. Meta would not offer details about the timeline for that move, but said it will pull local news from its site before the Online News Act takes effect. The bill will come into force six months after it receives royal assent.