The majority of Canadians support Bill C-18 in principle, but many of them are against it in practice, according to a poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute. .Three-fifths of Canadians said Big Tech should compensate Canadian news outlets when their content is shared, according to the Monday poll. .That said, the poll found 63% are concerned about losing access to Canadian news on Facebook and Google. .It said 48% of Canadians agree the federal government should back down and rescind Bill C-18. One-quarter want it to stand firm, and the same number are unsure about the best path. .For Canadians, the loss of Google and Facebook as news sources would be considerable. Each is used by more than two-fifths of Canadians daily for news — a proportion higher than all other platforms and websites. .Asked what source people are most likely to go to first to look for Canadian news if they had to choose one or two, websites (32%), Facebook (28%), and Google News (23%) are the top choices. .The poll went on to say 15% of Canadians pay for an online news subscription to a site. .Three-quarters of past Conservative voters would reverse course on Bill C-18, while one-third of Liberals and New Democrats would take this action. .The standoff between the Canadian government and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg deepened on June 22 after C-18 cleared the Senate and prompted Meta to begin blocking news content on its main platforms. .READ MORE: Facebook turning off news in Canada as latest media bailout awaits Royal Assent.“Today, we are confirming that news availability will be ended on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada prior to the Online News Act taking effect,” said Meta. .“We have repeatedly shared that in order to comply with Bill C-18, passed today in Parliament, content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada.”.Google said on June 29 it will be eliminating links to Canadian news from its Search, News, and Discover sections due to Bill C-18. .READ MORE: UPDATED: Google says it will remove Canadian news links because of Bill C-18.“We’re disappointed it has come to this,” said Google and Alphabet President of Global Affairs Kent Walker. .“We don’t take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe it’s important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible.”.The poll was conducted online from July 4 to 6 among a representative randomized sample of 1,610 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. It has a margin of error of +/- two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
