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A new Canadian law will require technology companies to license news content. Facebook’s owner said it would drop news from the platform.
The Canadian Parliament has passed a law that will require technology companies to pay domestic news outlets for linking to their articles, prompting the owner of Facebook and Instagram to say that it would pull news articles from both platforms in the country.
The law, passed on Thursday, is the latest salvo in a push by governments around the world to force big companies like Google and Facebook to pay for news that they share on their platforms — a campaign that the companies have resisted at virtually every turn.
With some caveats, the new Canadian law would force search engines and social media companies to engage in a bargaining process — and binding arbitration, if necessary — for licensing news content for their use.
The law, the Online News Act, was modeled after a similar one that passed in Australia two years ago. It was designed to “enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace and contribute to its sustainability,” according to an official summary. Exactly when the law would take effect was not immediately clear as of Friday morning.
Supporters of the legislation see it as a victory for the news media, as it fights to make up for plummeting advertising revenue that it attributes to Silicon Valley companies cornering the market for online advertising.
“A strong, independent and free press is fundamental to our democracy,” Pablo Rodriguez, the minister of Canadian heritage in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, wrote on Twitter late Thursday. “The Online News Act will help make sure tech giants negotiate fair and equitable deals with news organizations.”
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