Google and Canada Reach Deal to Avert News Ban over Online News Act

Google has reached a deal with Canada to avert a news blockade over a law that forces tech giants to pay for news content. Google had vowed to remove links to news in Canada in response to the Online News Act, due to take effect on December 19, 2023. Social media giant Meta is already blocking news on its platforms as a result of the law. The deal comes after months of talks between the search giant and Canada. The law – which is aimed at Google and Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram – requires tech firms to negotiate payment agreements with news outlets.

The agreement announced on November 29, 2023 requires Google pay C$100 million (£58 million, $74 million) annually, indexed to inflation, to news outlets. An announcement by Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge on November 29, 2023 said the funding would be used “for a wide range of news businesses across the country, including independent news businesses and those from Indigenous and official-language minority communities”. The statement said that Google would pay a “single collective” which would distribute the funds to eligible news agencies “based on the number of full-time equivalent journalists engaged by those businesses”. https://tinyurl.com/368afke5

Source: IBP

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