By Canadian Press

Law to help Canada’s news industry, and combat fake news, to be tabled within days

Mar 30, 2022 | 10:38 AM

OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is poised to bring forward legislation within days to make digital giants compensate Canadian media outlets for reusing their news content.

The bill is modelled on a law in Australia making tech companies, such as Google, pay for news content on their platforms.

Rodriguez has previously said the bill is a priority, and that it will help support Canada’s media industry and combat fake news circulating on the internet.

The online news bill will create a framework for professional media outlets to collectively negotiate deals with online platforms such as Google to compensate them for using their content.

Canada would have a regulator and impose arbitration if a fair deal could not be struck between Canadian media and companies including Google and Meta, formerly known as Facebook.

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Rodriguez says in the last 15 years about 450 Canadian news outlets have closed with the vast chunk of advertising revenues going to big digital companies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 30, 2022.

The Canadian Press