Canada has proposed legislation requiring Google and Facebook to pay media outlets for the use of their content on their digital platforms, the The bill is based on a similar law which was approved last year by Australia and will require companies to enter into commercial agreements with companies that generate informational content to compensate for the use of their material, according to Canadian media today.

If the bill is approved, the media will be able to collectively negotiate commercial agreementswhich will allow them to act “under fairer conditions” against the tech giants.

In the event that the agreements are not reasonable, according to the requirements set out in the bill, the Canadian Broadcasting and telecommunications (CRTC for its acronym in English) will have the ability to impose the compensation to be paid by Internet companies.

Why was the project born?

The Canadian government justified this law by the information sector crisis since internet giants have taken over a significant portion of content distribution and ad capture.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pablo Rodríguez, pointed out last Tuesday, during the presentation of the bill, that since 2008, more than 450 outlets have closed in Canada and 60 have disappeared in the past two years alone.

In 2020, Internet advertising revenue reached C$9.7 billion (US$7.77 billion). 80% of this amount went to Alphabet and Metathe parent companies of Google and Facebook, respectively.

Rodríguez points out that advertising revenue has shifted from the media to these large platforms “which benefit from the dissemination of informative content”.

“A free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy,” Pablo Rodríguez said in a statement. The Canadian minister added that the health of the sector is at risk due to the imbalance between the power of the technology giants and that of the communication companies.

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