Canadian media companies are bracing for a major setback, as Google announced Wednesday that it will remove news originating in the country from Search and News and other platforms, following the introduction of the law debated by Ottawa.
The Online News Act became law last week and on Wednesday, Kent Walker, Google’s head of Global Affairs for Google and Alphabet, said it was “impossible” and that the tech giant had told the Canadian Government that as soon as if the law goes into effect, “unfortunately we will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Find, News and Discover products in Canada.”
It will also visit the Google News Show, under which it has agreements with 150 Canadian publications.
“We are sorry it has come to this. We do not take this decision or its implications lightly and believe it is important to communicate this with Canadian publications and our users as early as possible,” Walker said, in a statement posted by Google.
The action from Google follows a similar announcement by Meta last week, also related to the removal of Canadian news content from its platforms, Facebook and Instagram. Meta has begun canceling contracts it has in place with Canadian news outlets.
The main issue that has angered technology professionals is that the law calls for the display of links to news content on their platform to be paid for. “The unprecedented decision to impose a fee on links (the so-called “link tax”) creates uncertainty for our products and exposes us to an incalculable financial liability for ease of access. to Canadians to news from Canadian publishers,” Google’s statement added.
Ottawa doesn’t seem willing to compromise. After Google’s announcement, Canada’s Minister of Heritage Pablo Rodriguez tweeted, “Big tech would rather spend money changing their platforms to block news from Canadians instead of paying a small percentage of the billions they make in dollars.” advertising. Canadians will not be bullied. Big tech doesn’t get any bigger than Canada. “
Critics of the law have warned of such an outcome. Michael Geist, a professor of law at the University of Ottawa, was among them and tweeted on Thursday that the blame was “unnecessary” on Rodriguez because he did not accept the “dangers” of the “negligible” law.
However, there may still be a window for understanding as Google will continue to participate in discussions as the Government completes a process to implement the provisions of the act. “We hope that the Government will be able to formulate a viable solution,” Google said.
