Canada can't cave to 'intimidation tactics' by Google and Meta over online news law, Hamilton MP says

Meta and Google are using "intimidation tactics" to protest Canada's online news law because they're nervous other countries will follow suit, says Hamilton Mountain MP Lisa Hepfner. 

The federal government passed Bill C-18 last week. The Online News Act requires big tech giants to pay media outlets for news content that's shared and repurposed on their platforms, and requires tech companies to bargain and reach deals with big and small media outlets across Canada. 

Google and Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent company, have spoken out against the bill in recent days — threatening to ban Canadian news from their platforms altogether.

Hepfner, a former Hamilton journalist turned Liberal MP, was part of the heritage committee that worked on the legislation.

In an interview with CBC Hamilton this week, she said the federal government cannot "cave to their intimidation tactics." 

"We can't let Facebook and Google rule the country," Hepfner said. "We can't let them decide what they will and will not contribute to. We have to decide that news is important to our democracy, and we will stand strong and we will defend it." 

Meta says it will block Canadian news

Other countries, including the U.K. and the U.S., are watching how the new regulations play out in Canada and are considering implementing similar policies, said Hepfner. 

"This is making Facebook and Google very nervous."  

Canada is following the lead of Australia, which passed similar legislation in 2021. Meta temporarily blocked Australians from sharing news stories on Facebook, but the ban was lifted when it reached a deal with the government. 

Rachel Curran, Meta's head of public policy in Canada, told Power & Politics on Tuesday that it is not negotiating with the federal government and is moving forward on its plan to drop Canadian news from its platforms. 

In recent days, Google has said it has delayed its decision on whether to block news access until further meetings with the heritage minister. It has also said none of its concerns about C-18 have been addressed. 

Hepfner said while this bill alone won't save the news industry, it's already having a positive impact. Meta and Google began bargaining with some large media outlets in anticipation of the legislation. 

A way to protect 'Canadian culture'

The legislation has prompted debate in Parliament about the role the government should pay in supporting media and regulating tech giants.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre tweeted Friday that "step by step, the Trudeau government is deliberately getting in the way of what people can see and share online." 

Hepfner said such a stance is "ludicrous and rage forming."

"All the legislation does is create an obligation to Facebook and Google to negotiate independently with news organizations. Government is completely out of it." 

Vass Bednar, executive director of McMaster University's master of public policy in digital society program, told CBC Hamilton the legislation is "promising," as it will create a more equal playing field for news outlets to receive payments for their content. She also hopes the regulation will result in increased transparency around the nature of the deals.

"We're concerned by the loss of local news outlets and the viability of all sorts of outlets, so we want to improve their bargaining power," Bednar said. 

She said she was surprised Canada — a "pretty cautious, wait-and-see country" — prioritized this legislation. 

"We're saying we're, we care about Canadian creators and Canadian culture, and we want to find a way to protect it," Bednar said.