Canada - June 2023
Online News Act becomes law
On 22 June the Online News Act became law. According to the government, the Act aims to ensure a fair distribution of revenue between news sites and social media and online platforms (the latter would have to pay news organizations when their content is accessed on online platforms). As explained by the government, journalism lost major revenue streams from advertising to online platforms. It further claims that the Act will also facilitate the relationship between news media outlets and social media platforms, as well as strengthen media freedom. Because of the financial implications to their operations, Meta and Google have announced that they will cease providing Canadian news content on their websites. This reaction has been criticised, given the proportion of Canadians who access news through social media (social media comes in third after the internet and television).
In response, the Canadian government said it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
Sources: Government of Canada, The Conversation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
