Canada unveils legislation that would require global digital giants to pay for local news content, in step with a landmark law passed by Australia last year
New law would require tech giants to make fair commercial deals with Canadian outlets for the news and information that is shared on their platforms or face binding arbitration.
"The news sector in Canada is in crisis and this contributes to the heightened public mistrust and the rise of harmful disinformation in our society," Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told a news conference on Tuesday. The new law would require tech giants to make fair commercial deals with Canadian outlets for the news and information that is shared on their platforms or face binding arbitration.It builds on Australia's New Media Bargaining Code, which was a world-first, aimed at making Google and Facebook pay for news content on their platforms.