As part of its ongoing platforms and publishers research, the Tow Center is tracking Canada’s Online News Act, or Bill C-18, as it advances through parliament. The bill, which is modeled after Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, would require digital platforms who benefit from distributing news publishers’ content to share their revenues with news businesses.
Facebook warned on Friday that it may block sharing of news content on its platform in Canada over concerns about legislation that would compel digital platforms to pay news publishers.
The powers that Google and Facebook have over economic and political power in society — especially over the news industry — has caught the attention of lawmakers in Washington, D.C. After a close election and many worries over the quality of public debate, many ask if social media have played a role in the misinformation that erodes our free press and plagues our democracy.
A bill that would let most news outlets collectively negotiate with dominant tech platforms for compensation to distribute their content advanced out of a Senate committee Thursday after Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) struck a deal.
The hefty fine and ruling is a win for top EU antitrust official Margrethe Vestager, who has aggressively prosecuted Big Tech companies, and could set a precedent for future European antitrust rulings covering tech giants.
Google faces a €25bn (£21.6bn) lawsuit in the UK and EU that accuses the tech firm of anticompetitive conduct in the digital advertising market.
Media badly needs help to stop Big Tech's confiscation of information delivery and use of expensive, curated content for free.