Bill C-18, the Online News Act, keeps making headlines months after passing as the rules are starting to get sorted out. What does this bill, as well as Meta blocking Canadian news links and Google’s threat to do the same, actually mean for Canadians?
www.ctvnews.ca
From the above article:
Where will news be blocked?
Currently, content from Canadian news platforms is not visible on Facebook or Instagram for most Canadians.
Meta said Aug. 1(opens in a new tab) that the company had “begun the process of ending news availability in Canada,” and that the changes will be implemented for all Canadian users of its social media platforms.
The news block includes links to news articles and video or audio posted by Canadian news outlets. Any links or other content will not be viewable by the public. News publishers outside of Canada will be able to continue to post, but their content will not be visible by Canadian users either.
During recent wildfire emergencies, Meta’s refusal to pull back on this news pullout was widely condemned by political and community leaders.
How are news organizations impacted?
Publications that make the delivery of news their main focus are meant to be the beneficiaries of Bill C-18. Instead, “eligible news businesses” are having to find ways to go around the tech giants to distribute their journalism.
The definition of what counts as a news business according to the legislation is an “individual or entity that operates a news outlet in Canada,” and a news outlet is any entity whose “primary purpose is to produce news content.”
The legislation states that news businesses are considered eligible as long as they fall under certain requirements, including:
An eligible news business also must produce news content “that is not primarily focused on a particular topic such as industry-specific news, sports, recreation, arts, lifestyle or entertainment,” according to Bill C-18, suggesting that lifestyle magazines and similar publications may not be affected by Meta blocks.
CTV News, CP24 and BNN Bloomberg, which are all part of Bell Media and owned by parent company BCE, will be affected by the news block. In response, Bell Media has pulled all of its advertising from Meta.
How to access news amid Meta’s ban
Canadians are still able to access Canadian news sources by navigating directly to their websites or mobile apps.
Signing up for newsletters or subscriptions is another way to stay up to date with the latest news directly from the sources that matter most to you.
Bookmarking your most frequently visited news websites now will allow you to navigate to them quickly even if their links are not being shared when you search a topic on Google.
Canadians will also still be able to see news from international and Canadian news sources through Google.
