Within 100 days of forming government, the Liberals say they would introduce legislation that ensures digital platforms such as Facebook and Google pay a share of their revenues to Canadian news publishers.
The Liberals, in their election platform released Wednesday, say the model will be based on Australia’s, which earlier this year sparked fierce backlash from Google and Facebook.
Facebook threatened to pull its social media platform entirely from Australia in response to the proposal, arguing it was unfair not to consider the broad audience Facebook provides for news media.
After tense negotiations, Australia enshrined its new law, and commercial deals between digital platforms and media companies there have been in the works ever since.
The Liberal plan would allow media companies in Canada to band together and collectively negotiate with digital platforms, something for which advocates in this country have long asked. The industry has been financially tanking for years as significant advertising revenue has left the television and newspaper space for the big digital companies that, in turn, profit while being popular platforms for journalism.
Paul Deegan, president of News Media Canada, which lobbies on behalf of publishers in Canada, including Torstar, welcomed the Liberal plan and said he was pleased that the three leading parties — the NDP, Conservatives and Liberals — all seemed to favour the Australia model.
“There’s really an urgent need for this legislation,”...
Read Full Story: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/09/01/liberals-election-platform-proposes-that-social-media-companies-pay-for-canadian-journalism.html
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