TORONTO: Google and Meta will pull out access to news articles in Canada if legislature compelling internet businesses to pay news publishers was passed, tech giant executives told Canadian lawmakers on Wednesday.
Canada’s proposed legislation will force platforms like Google parent Alphabet Inc and Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms Inc to negotiate ad deals and pay Canadian news outlets for their script, part of a broader global trend to make tech companies pay for news.
Google may be forced to withdraw links to news articles found in Canadian search results if the proposed bill passes, its vice president of news Richard Gingras said during testimony to a Canadian Senate panel, citing an “uncapped financial liability” if ii was to pay publishers for linking to their sites.
Meta would also do away with the availability of news content in Canada if the proposed bill is passed as currently drafted, said head of public policy for Meta in Canada Rachel Curran.
Ottawa’s proposal was similar to a ground-breaking law that Australia passed in 2021 that also triggered threats from Google and Facebook to withdraw their services. Both eventually struck deals with Australian publisher after amendments to the legislation.
This year, Google tested topping some Canadian users’ access to news in response to the proposed legislation, a move Prime Minister Justin Trudeau termed a “terrible mistake.”
Last yaer, Google linked to Canadian news publishers more than 3.6 billion times, Gingras said, helping those firms make money on advertisements and fresh subscriptions.
Curran said that Facebook feeds sent Canadian publishers more than 1.9 billion clicks in one year ending April 2022, worth around $230 million in free marketing.
