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Google repeats ‘cut off your country’ lobbying move
GOOGLE IS unhappy with legislation before Canada's Parliament intended to force it to pay newspapers for the use it makes of copyright work they publish. So it has waved the threat that it deployed against similar legislation in Australia - threatening to block news search, or all search, from the country. Google actually shut down its News service in Spain for eight years rather than pay legally-mandated fees - though it now appears to be back.
The Canadian Association of Journalists raises a question...
The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) reports that on Wednesday 22 February "Google told The Canadian Press that it is temporarily limiting access to news content for less than four per cent of its Canadian users as it evaluates potential responses." That's clearly a warning shot...
Brent Jolly, president of the CAJ, commented that "This is a crystal clear example of a private tech giant throwing its weight around as a pressure tactic to further its own self-interest. Sadly, at the end of the day, it's Canadians' right to know that gets caught in the crossfire."
The proposed Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada would amend competition law to allow newspaper publishers to collaborate to negotiate with the likes of Facebook and Google over payments. It follows the example of a law passed in Australia in 2021 - and also, in its current form, makes no mention of payments to actual journalists. This contrasts with the EU law.
The CAG notes that "For years, Google has made repeated public statements about its concern for the health, vitality, and well-being of the news and information ecosystem in Canada. While the CAJ acknowledges Google has made past investments to support journalistic training and strike content agreements with some Canadian publishers, this action sets a dangerous precedent where a private corporation can discriminate against some users by making it difficult for them to access local news."
On 28 February broadcaster CBC reported that the Parliament's Heritage Committee is summoning Google executives to explain themselves. The motion "orders Google and its parent company Alphabet to give the committee copies of all documents and messages related to its decision to retaliate over C-18 by Thursday 2 March".
Fight between tech giants and Ottawa over paying for news could have global impacts- The Canadian Bill is still in the Senate. We regret the earlier error.