Following Canada’s adoption of Bill C-18, the Online News Act in June, the News/Media Alliance submitted a briefing to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in late June rebutting arguments that the law violates Canada’s international treaty obligations. The Online News Act closely resembles Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, adopted in 2021, with both giving news publishers the right to negotiate — collectively if desired — with the dominant online platforms for fair compensation for the use of their content. Throughout the legislative process, some big tech interest groups made arguments that the bill would violate Canada’s non-discrimination commitments under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which prohibit the signatories from discriminating against businesses or investors from the other treaty partners.
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