Ottawa and Google reach 'historic' deal to support Canadian media

(Patria) - The Canadian government and Google have announced a "historic" deal to support media in the country, averting an immediate threat from the digital giant to block news on its platform. That threat was issued in response to Ottawa's Online News Act, which is set to take effect on December 19, AFP reported.

"For more than a decade, news organizations have been disrupted by the arrival of large digital platforms like Google. In Canada, nearly 500 media outlets have closed their doors, and thousands of journalists have lost their jobs," said Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge.

"Today, I am announcing that we have found a way forward with Google" to implement the Online News Act, she added.

"This is a historic development. It will establish a fairer commercial relationship between digital platforms and journalism in Canada," the minister claims.

St-Onge said that Canadian news will continue to be shared on Google's platforms in exchange for the company paying Canadian news companies an annual amount in the range of 100 million Canadian dollars. The amount is less than what the government estimated compensation should be, but it prevents a potential news block in Canada, where Google and Meta are dominant platforms. St-Onge, however, reserved the right to reconsider the deal if "better agreements are reached elsewhere in the world".

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the agreement will "resonate around the world in countries and democracies grappling with the same challenges that our media landscape in Canada is facing."

The agreement will give Google the option to negotiate with a single group representing all Canadian media, rather than seeking one-on-one contracts, which it feared could lead to large payouts. The money would then be distributed based on the number of full-time journalists employed by each publisher and broadcaster.

Google's Vice President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, said the company is "pleased that the Government of Canada has committed to addressing our key concerns." As a result, he said, Google will "continue to send valuable traffic to Canadian publishers."

"This is certainly a good outcome," said Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists.

The Online News Act is based on a similar law introduced in Australia and aims to support Canada's struggling news sector, which has seen an exodus of advertisers.

Meta and Google, which together control about 80 percent of all advertising revenue in Canada, worth billions of dollars, have been accused of taking money from traditional news organizations while using news for free.