Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has proposed legislation that could raise more than $1 billion a year by forcing streaming services to fund local media and feature Canadian content. It’s pushing search and social platforms, for example, to negotiate commercial deals with news publishers to compensate for losses in advertising revenue.
“This isn’t an attack on big tech,” said Vivek Krishnamurthy, a University of Ottawa law professor who heads the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. “This is the government trying to finance a lot of its cultural and media policies using the exorbitant profits of big tech.
While Alphabet’s Google isn’t outright opposed to the online news bill, spokesperson Lauren Skelly said “we have serious concerns about some unintended consequences” it will have Canadians’ ability to find and share news online. Meta didn’t respond to a request for comment on it, nor did Netflix on the proposed streaming act.Broadcasters in Canada are required to have between 40 per cent to 60 per cent of their content partly written, produced or performed by Canadians.
“The way the platforms choose to show content to viewers is determined by the platforms, but informed by the viewers,” David Fraser, a partner at the McInnes Cooper law firm in Halifax, Nova Scotia, said by phone. “That should be an interaction exclusively between the viewer and the platform.”
Do Canadians really want more Bryan Adams and Celine Dion; or more Bob Dylan and Taylor Swift?
This billc11 is going way too far Justin needs to go .. god please save Canada from the liberal party 🧘🏼♀️🙏🏻🧘🏼♀️