They asked for it..Canada’s big media publishers are caught in the middle of an escalating battle with US tech giants after Facebook and Instagram moved to block Canadian news..That’s because the biggest beneficiaries of C-18 also stand to lose the most if traffic is diverted away from their sites..And now Google could be next..Under terms of the law that cleared the House and Senate this week, both companies would be required to enter into agreements to pay for news content that appears on their sites if it generates money for them..According to Senate proceedings, up to 700 news outlets would potentially benefit from being paid for their content. That is, if Facebook and Google agree to pay for it. By all indications, they won’t..Meta says about 3% of all content on Facebook is news; Google says news is less than 2% of all searches on its site. People apparently care more about cat videos and pornography than hard news..By contrast, Facebook generated about 13% of all traffic to news sites last year, according to the Echobox Social Media Index, up from 11% in 2019. The index found Facebook generates around 90% of all social media traffic compared to less than 10% for Twitter..This means “that nearly one in seven page views accrued by news publishers came from a single source,” it said..And despite being bailed out to the tune of $600 million, it was the big publishers that complained they could lose the most if their content was blocked by Google and Meta. .Indeed, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux told the committee on June 7 the legislation isn’t tailored for smaller media companies that don’t have the resources to negotiate with the bigger tech firms..At this point the government has given no indication of a compromise. Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in the Senate the bill “is about the future of our news industry in our country… It’s about upholding our democracy, because our democracy — any democracy — needs a free, independent, and thriving press.”.Apparently, even a subsidized one..Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, accused the tech giants of “bullying,” in its dealings with the government..“The fact these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians’ access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem, and now they’re resorting to bullying tactics to try and get their way. It’s not going to work,” Trudeau told a news conference after Meta’s plans to restrict news traffic were first announced earlier this month..But the prime minister can take comfort knowing he isn’t alone in his fight. The European Union is still considering similar legislation and earlier this month California became the first US state to advance a law requiring social media companies to pay up for news. It also received threats from Zuckerberg to block news sites..On Tuesday, Gannett Co., the largest newspaper chain in the US with more than 200 titles, sued Google after accusing it of violating anti-trust law by monopolizing the market for online advertising.
