By Canadian Press

Google has ‘serious’ concerns with Liberal bill requiring platforms to pay for news

Oct 18, 2022 | 10:30 AM

OTTAWA — Google is raising “serious” concerns about a Liberal bill that seeks to require tech giants to negotiate deals to pay media outlets for making news content available online.

Colin McKay, Google Canada’s head of public policy and government relations, told a House of Commons committee today that the bill could unintentionally elevate misinformation and propaganda.

McKay says a provision in the bill that would keep platforms from giving “undue preference” to certain news outlets would prevent Google from elevating “trusted information sources” over lower-quality content.

He says the structure of the bill serves to benefit larger organizations over smaller ones and incentivize the production of clickbait.

But other witnesses representing news organizations at the committee say the bill could level the playing field online.

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They pointed to a similar law passed in Australia last year and say a legal requirement for online behemoths to pay for journalism is long overdue.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2022.

The Canadian Press