Forum Moderators: goodroi
The Online News Act:
ensures fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news outlets
provides for collective bargaining by news outlets
promotes voluntary commercial agreements between digital platforms and news outlets, with minimal government intervention
as a last resort, establishes a mandatory arbitration framework where digital platforms and news outlets cannot reach commercial agreements
defines the role and tools of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) as the regulator
The proposed law uses an extremely broad definition for “eligible news businesses” and doesn't require eligible news outlets to follow basic journalistic standards. The bill would effectively subsidize any outlet that “explains current issues or events of public interest.” This means that any opinion or commentary blog with two or more people could be eligible to receive funds. It also means that foreign state-owned outlets could be eligible, even if they are known sources of misinformation and propaganda.
In other words, the bill would force Google to subsidize outlets that do not adhere to any journalistic standards, creating a regime that allows bad actors and those peddling misinformation to thrive and profit.
