The power, reach and resources of social media have made it a dominant force in the news and advertising industry since day one. This has put many traditional news organizations in a difficult financial position. A new law passed by the Canadian Parliament requires social media platforms to pay news outlets for each piece of content shared.Social media platforms will pay media companies
A bill proposed by the Canadian Government to limit social media’s ability to repost news content published in Canada has received royal assent. The Online News Act, also known as C-18, proposes that social media giants Google and Meta pay media outlets for any news content shared and reused on their social media platforms.
According to a press release from the Canadian Government, the law will bridge the growing gap between news organizations and major online media platforms and increase fairness and sustainability in the country’s news industry. The bill aims to “maintain the independence of the press” with minimal government interference by promoting voluntary trade deals between Google, Meta and news organizations. Unsurprisingly, Google and Meta are not too keen on this decision.
Meta removes news from their platform
After the bill was passed, Meta confirmed that it plans to abide by the bill, but probably not in the way Parliament intended. The company has stated that it plans to end news accessibility on Facebook and Instagram for its Canadian users, rather than making paid deals.Canada’s Online News Act will become law in six months. While no timeline has been given, Meta has confirmed that it will remove local news from its platform before the law goes into effect and begins to apply.
Google has yet to make an official statement on the bill, but the company has hinted that removing news links from its search engine and results is also a possibility. Additionally, those affected by the law will not only be Meta (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp) and Google, but also Twitter and TikTok.
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