The government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaupresented Tuesday to the Lower House of Canada, a project for the large internet companies pay more balanced amounts to the media for the dissemination of their informative content.

According to The country newspaper, the Federal Minister of Heritage and main promoter of the initiative, Pablo Rodríguez, He said “we need a vibrant and healthy information ecosystem now more than ever. As we all know, the sector is in crisis”, and that, “the web giants will have to be accountable and contribute in favor of fairness, independence and freedom of the press to strengthen our democracy”.

Likewise, Spanish digital media explain that the parliamentary proposal -in its current form- it is mainly focused on Facebook and Google. The settlement serves to compensate for the advertising revenue that the media does not receive and which falls on social networks and other platforms.

In addition, according to data from the federal Department of Heritage, some 450 media outlets have had to close in Canada since 2008. Online advertising generated in 2020 revenues of approximately 9.7 billion Canadian dollars (about 7.75 billion US dollars) in the North American country. ; Google and Facebook pocketed 80% of the total.I.

The initiative envisions the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) leading this process, since the platforms can negotiate with the media, for a maximum period of 12 months and on a voluntary basis, with agreements that take into account the criteria imposed by the CRTC, such as amounts to ensure independence and freedom of expression, as well as support for the production of local and national news of an inclusive nature for the various groups in the population.

In the absence of an agreement or non-compliance with the established criteria, the CRTC it will establish binding negotiations and, in the latter case, it can serve as arbiter to select the most suitable proposal.