Of the $100 million that Google has to give to news organizations across the country each year, nearly two-thirds is divided between print and digital media, with the remaining third going to CBC/Radio-Canada and other private organizations. and distributed to public broadcasters.
Explaining how the compensation will be distributed, government officials said Friday that CBC/Radio-Canada’s share of the fund will be capped at 7 per cent, while other broadcasters in the country will split 30 per cent. Print media and digital media will distribute the remaining 63% of the fund.
Annual compensation for news organizations required by the Online News Act would be distributed to news organizations based on the number of full-time journalists they hired and produced original news content in the previous calendar year.
The Online News Act, passed on June 22, 2023, will come into effect on December 19. The law requires digital platforms with 20 million unique monthly users and $1 billion or more in annual revenue to compensate news organizations for sharing links to their pages. Masu.
Only Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, meet these standards in Canada. Google’s contract calls for it to pay $100 million a year, indexed for inflation. By not sharing links to news pages, Facebook avoided the need to enter into its own agreements.
Meta chose to remove the news link, but Minister of Culture and Heritage Pascal Saint-Onge said on Friday that the company could still fall under the law when it comes into force on December 19. Stated.
“Yes, they are trying to ban the news, but we know that Canadians find a way to share the news anyway, so the ban is totally not working,” Pascal said. St. Onge said Friday. “So, do they fall under the law? The CRTC needs to pay attention to that.”
The company could be subject to the law if the CRTC determines that it has not made sufficient efforts to remove links to news articles on Meta.
- Do you have questions about the Online News Act or how this funding will be distributed? We want to hear from you. Please email ask@cbc.ca.
That would force Meta to either do more link removal or enter into a similar deal with Google. If Meta cannot reach an agreement, it is required by law to participate in mediation.
If mediation fails, the law provides for an arbitration process to evaluate proposals from the platforms and affected news services. An arbitration panel will then select one of the proposals.
“It has been clear for months that the regulatory process will not address the fundamentally flawed premise of the Online News Act,” Meta Canada spokeswoman Rachel Curran said in a statement.
“News organizations choose to use our free services because it helps them make money, and today’s announcement of the final regulations continues to strengthen our management of ending news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada. It doesn’t change the decision.”
After the deal with Google was revealed, Pascal Saint-Onge, the Minister of Culture and Heritage, said Meta had not yet negotiated a deal to compensate news organizations for their content.
As part of the deal, Google guaranteed that Canadian news organizations would be treated fairly compared to contracts they might sign with news organizations in other countries.
The federal government said that if other countries’ news organizations reach better deals with Google, the company will return to the federal government “for the purpose of resolving any concerns.”
Eligibility and distribution
Under section 11.1 of the Online News Act, news organizations eligible to receive funding under this agreement include nonprofit and commercial news organizations that produce local, regional, and national news content.
Government officials said Friday that once the law goes into effect, eligible news organizations will have to respond to a “call” from Google.
News organizations that participate in the appeal and prove they are eligible for funding will join a collective speaking to Google to finalize the details of the funding available.
Administrative costs incurred by the organization will be deducted from the $100 million fund. Google will cover its own administrative costs outside of the fund.
Saint-Onge said the entities distributing the funds must do so in a “legal and transparent manner” and that the process is “under the supervision of the CRTC.” [Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission]. ”
This week’s issue: Google and the federal government struck a deal to keep Canadian news on its platform, with the tech giant paying the news organization $100 million a year. In addition, there was a fallout after Alberta invoked the Sovereignty Act and MPs asked ministers not to speak French.
Media companies that qualify under this law but do not wish to join the consortium can petition the CRTC to obtain permission to contract directly with Google. To be successful, media must convince regulators that negotiations are fair and will benefit other companies eligible for funding.
Regulations announced Friday require news organizations to demonstrate that most of the money they receive from the fund must be used to “support the production of local, regional, and national news content.” There is.
Media receiving funding must also demonstrate that interference with the media’s editorial process will not undermine freedom of expression or journalistic independence.
Under the law, Google can enter into non-financial agreements with news organizations to provide in-kind technical support, but the amount must exceed $100 million.
Media and Google reaction
Google issued a statement Friday saying it was pleased to be able to reach a funding agreement with the federal government, although it called the Online News Act a “fundamentally flawed law.”
“Fortunately, this means we can continue to drive valuable traffic to Canadian publishers, and Canadians can continue to enjoy the Google products they are familiar with while we work through the exemption process.” We can,” the statement said.
News Media Canada, the association representing print and digital media in Canada, issued a statement welcoming the regulation, saying it would amount to about $20,000 per journalist.
“Today, we have a strong regulatory framework in place that allows Google to punish our journalists, big and small, for the exceptional reporting they do on behalf of their fellow Canadians, without fear or favor. We have guaranteed that we will compensate news publishers,” News CEO Paul Deegan said. Media Canada.
CBC/Radio-Canada also welcomed the regulation, saying it “will help ensure Canadian news organizations receive compensation for the journalism they produce.”
“It’s also important that regulations recognize that the news that CBC/Radio-Canada provides has value and should be compensated.”
The statement did not say how the 7 per cent would be divided between CBC and Radio-Canada, but said the company will “work with our media partners and digital platforms on next steps.” .
Kevin Desjardins, president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which represents Canada’s commercial radio and television stations, said he was disappointed with the way the funds were distributed.
He told CBC News that Canadians are turning to radio and television for their news, and broadcasters are investing in services to help those platforms survive.
“So, on that level, we think that at least this piece of the puzzle is not aligned with market reality, and I think this highlights the need to find another way to support broadcast news.” he said.
