The Google LLC logo is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in New York City, USA on January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo Acquire License Rights
OTTAWA, Oct 12 (Reuters) – A Canadian news industry association on Thursday backed some of Google’s concerns about a new law aimed at forcing major internet companies to share advertising revenue with news publishers in the country.
Alphabet’s (gogetL.O) Google has “expressed in good faith legitimate concerns” that the Canadian government should address when setting the rules to implement the law, said News Media Canada (NMC), which represents Canada’s leading newspapers , including The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.
“We agree with many of the issues you raised,” NMC Chief Executive Officer Paul Deegan said in a statement first reported by the Globe.
The Online News Act, part of a global trend to make internet giants pay for news, was passed by the Canadian Parliament in June and the government is finalizing rules that are expected to be published by December 19.
Canada tried to address tech companies’ concerns about the law in draft rules released in September, but Google and Meta Platforms META.O were unconvinced.
Google has expressed concerns about the law requiring links to news stories as a basis for payment, saying the proposed regulations do not address issues such as imposing potentially unlimited liability on the company and restrictions on supporting the news industry.
“We believe there should be a hard cap, rather than a floor, on financial liability,” Deegan said in the statement.
NMC also agrees with Google that eligible news publishers must have an online presence and that non-monetary measures such as training and product can be part of compensation, Deegan said.
“We will continue to engage those with questions or concerns, including tech giants,” Culture Minister Pascale St-Onge said in a statement, adding that Ottawa will consider input received during the public consultation on the draft rules.
Google said in its submission during the consultation: “While the government has publicly expressed confidence that our concerns can be addressed through the regulatory process, unfortunately the draft regulations do not sufficiently address the critical structural issues in the law.”
“By making links to news sites the basis for payment, the law fails to recognize that the public’s ability to freely find and share links to news content online is critical to freedom of expression, access to information, freedom of the press and is an informed citizenry,” the company said in an 11-page document released last week.
(This story has been corrected to change a typo in the Minister’s name in paragraph 9.)
Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Jonathan Oatis
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