Google and Meta block access to national and local news for Canadians

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The Government of Canada passed Bill C-18, The Online News Act, last month, which intends to regulate digital platforms that act as a middle ground in Canada’s news media to enhance fairness, calling for tech giants to pay for displaying Canadians news on their platforms and estimated to bring in $329 million to Canadian newsrooms annually. 

In response to the new legislation, Google and Meta say instead of paying Canadian newsrooms, they will remove said news from their sites and apps, creating barriers for Canadians to access their news. 

While Canadian news can still be accessed by print copies or from a news organization’s home webpage or app, the bill could have a big impact on digitized news organizations who depend on Google searches to attract readers who support their operations. 

“Most Canadian journalists work for organizations that are digital first now … and that’s because people go on websites, they use Apple News, they get their stuff off of Instagram now,” says Andrew Mrozowski, president of Canadian University Press (CUP). 

“Having such a large way of people getting their news taken away now not only hurts the organizations, but hurts Canadians, and I think that is probably the scariest thing for me is that Canadians aren’t going to be able to have news accessible to them anymore.” 

Mrozowski also says this bill will drastically reshape the entire industry, from big organizations like the CBC down to student papers like The Runner. 

“[Journalism is] important because you’re getting the news firsthand. We’re at a point in society where we want stories from the people who are experiencing them, and if we’re removing the ability to get those stories, then we won’t have any progress, and we won’t know what’s going on around us,” Mrozowski says. 

While this bill has intentions to support Canadian news and journalists, Spencer Izen, who is a fellow at New York University’s Library Futures project studying these laws and how they relate to equitable access to knowledge, says this bill wasn’t the right way to do it. 

“The element most problematic to me is that it fundamentally disrupts how the internet works. There is an inherent inequity in charging for some links versus others, which disrupts the logic of what the internet was designed to do,” Izen says. 

“Meta and Google are information monopolies. They are data cartels, and they’ve been problematic actors in the information space for years. We’re seeing the sheer power demonstrated by them [in this dispute]. The power and influence they wield over democratic societies is deeply concerning.” 

Izen also says having tech giants like Google and Meta be legally bound to pay Canadian newsrooms is problematic and their response to remove said news isn’t entirely unreasonable. 

“The internet has the right to curate what goes on there. [The bill] doesn’t make sense in terms of the political economy. But just because the bill is terrible doesn’t mean what Google and Meta are doing is necessarily terrible. It’s their right. It’s problematic because they’re choosing to exercise their right in this way,” he says. 

In 2021, a similar law to Bill C-18 was passed in Australia and Meta gave the same response as what Canada is currently dealing with. The Australian government then amended the bill after coming to a deal with Meta, restoring access to news. Mrozowski and Izen both expect a similar outcome to happen in Canada. 

“I don’t know if Meta and Google are aware or just don’t care that Canadians are being hurt now, not just journalists. That’s probably why they’re doing it because then they know if Canadians are saying this is wrong, the government will likely go back,” Mrozowski says. 

“This bill cannot come into law and I don’t think it will because these companies aren’t going to budge. They’re kind of immune to the network effects … because they’re so big,” Izen says. 

Izen also says Canadians’ inability to access news without Google or Meta speaks to cultural issues and a lack of information seeking. He says when a mass of people consume news without an active critical thinking lens, it can lead to the spread of disinformation and myths.  

“I don’t think there’s that critical [thinking] mass right now, curating what they’re looking at and not letting themselves be just presented with options by a search engine or by social media. I think it’s a reality that we need to move [towards] and progress.” 

With the implementation of this bill, CUP is working to find solutions and innovative ways for student newspapers to continue to reach their audiences and stay engaged with their readerships.

“The most important thing is that as long as we’re all united on this, and as long as our voices are heard, I think we can try to make some sort of difference,” Mrozowski says.