The Canadian regulatory body responsible for implementing the nation’s online news legislation announced on Thursday its intention to establish a negotiation framework between news entities and internet giants, beginning in the upcoming autumn. The objective is to commence mandatory negotiations by early 2025.
Canada’s Online News Act, part of a global trend aimed at compelling tech giants such as Google and Meta’s Facebook to financially support news providers, was enacted into law in June but has not yet been enforced.
Both companies have expressed concerns that the law is impractical for their operations, with Meta already discontinuing news sharing on its platforms, and Google planning to exclude news from search results in Canada before the law takes effect.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has been assigned the responsibility of finalizing the regulations and will oversee negotiations between Canadian news publishers and online platforms.
In the upcoming autumn, the CRTC intends to conduct a public consultation on the negotiation framework, with plans to enlist independent arbitrators in the following year.
The CRTC has stated that it will release the framework and code of conduct for the legislation in the summer of 2024, paving the way for mandatory negotiations once eligible news organizations and arbitrators are in place by early 2025.
