Culture and Heritage Minister Pascal St-Onge said if CBC/Radio-Canada received funding from Google, it would be within the spirit of the government’s Digital News Act, but not on its share of the $100 million fund. suggested that there may be a cap.
In an interview with rosemary burton live On Sunday’s broadcast, St. Onge said the deal is “primarily about mostly written news,” but that stations such as CBC/Radio-Canada also have digital written news and could be included. said.
Because Google earns advertising revenue, “I think it’s important for these big tech companies to respect the principle that public broadcast news has value,” said Rosemary Barton, chief political correspondent for the CBC. told.
“Yes, that should be recognized and the principles should be respected,” she said.
“At the same time, we understand that the market is very difficult right now…and we’re going to make sure it’s fair and equitable.”
Asked whether there might be a cap on the CBC’s share of the $100 million annual total, St. Onge acknowledged that was a possibility.
“It could be something like that and everything will be made public in the days before the bill takes effect on December 19,” she said.
Earlier this week, Mr. St. Onge expressed skepticism that the CBC should receive a share of its share of the journalists it employs in Canada.
featured videosRosemary Barton speaks with Heritage Minister Pascal St. Onge about Ottawa’s deal with Google over the Online News Act, whether it was the best proposal and how it will help small newspapers .
“We don’t believe CBC/Radio-Canada should walk away with a third of the envelope, so we intend to address this in the final regulations that will be released shortly before the law takes effect,” she said. . In French.
The government’s agreement with Google, announced earlier this week, marks an important point in C-18 history, with the government’s bill bringing two major tech companies, Google and Meta, to a Canadian media company. The purpose was to force the conclusion of a compensation agreement.
Some critics say the $100 million figure is less than what the government originally thought it could raise through the law, and that the CBC, which receives public funding each year, should not be included in the deal. CBC received approximately $1.3 billion in public funding in fiscal year 2022-2023.
“Given concerns that public broadcasters are competing with the private sector for advertising dollars, it is important that they also compete for advertising dollars.” [Big Tech] Money makes things worse,” Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa professor who opposed Bill C-18, told a Senate committee considering the bill in May.
CBC/Radio-Canada spokesperson Leon Marr did not comment on the potential cap in a statement Sunday.
“CBC/Radio-Canada says this agreement will ensure that all Canadian media outlets receive fair payments for the news content their journalists produce, which is currently used by foreign companies such as Google to generate revenue.” “We look forward to seeing the regulations,” he said, as well as the details of the deal with Google. ”
I don’t sign a contract with Meta.
St. Onge was also asked about Meta, which controls Facebook and Instagram, another company targeted by C-18. Meta has been blocking news on its platform in Canada since the summer, arguing that removing news from the platform was the only reasonable way to comply with C-18.
“Unlike search engines, we do not actively retrieve news from the internet and place it in your feeds, and the only way we can reasonably comply with online news laws is to “It has been clear for many years that we would no longer offer the service,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News earlier this week.
Ms. St. Onge told Mr. Burton that she believed Meta was de-emphasizing news globally.wall street journal Reported Some resources have been shifted away from news content.
featured videosThis 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.
“I don’t know what their business plan is, but they don’t seem to have a problem letting Facebook run with misinformation and disinformation. I think that’s a big problem,” St. Onge said.
In response to a request for comment on Sunday, Mr. Mehta reiterated his previous statement regarding C-18. Meta has several programs, including fact-checking partnerships, aimed at combating misinformation and disinformation around the world.
Earlier this year, the federal Conservative Party criticized the government for not accepting amendments to the C-18 and promised to replace it under a government led by Pierre Poièvre.
