Tue Jul 11, 2023 – 4:29 pm EDT
OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — The Trudeau government seems to have caved to Google by amending the country’s internet censorship act to not force companies to pay for Canadian news content.
According to a July 10 update on the Online News Act, the Canadian Heritage Department seems to be moving from mandatory payments to a “contribution” model as both Facebook and Google have blocked content for Canadians rather than pay to publish Canadian news stories.
The updates also allow for “non-monetary offerings to news organizations, such as training or other products, be included in the (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) CRTC’s evaluation of exemption criteria.”
The document attests that it aims to establish agreements between platforms and news businesses “with minimal government intervention.”
Canada’s Senate passed the Online News Act, or Bill C-18, in June and it quickly became law. The House of Commons had passed Bill C-18 in December 2022.
This new internet censorship law mandates that online tech companies be forced to pay publishers for news content shared on their sites.
It is unclear why the government introduced the amendment that seems to give in to Google. It appears to contradict
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