A local site I use regularly has already begun to feel the negative effects of the federal government’s Online News Act (aka Bill C-18):
Durham Radio News (DRN) doesn’t normally post editorial content, but when local news is being attacked we refuse to stay silent.
Bill C-18 is now law and will have a very negative impact on local independent newsrooms such as DRN.
The bill forces major tech companies such as Google and Meta to pay news outlets for content.
The vast majority of referrals to our DRN site come from Facebook and Google.
Both platforms have been instrumental in growing our audience.
Despite multiple warnings from Meta and Google that they would block news, the Liberal government proceeded with Bill C-18.
It’s now law and in a statement Meta says news will no longer be available on Facebook and Instagram.
Google is expected to follow suit.
Both tech giants have publicly said they don’t make much money off links to news stories so it doesn’t make financial sense for them to pay news providers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called their threats to remove news a bullying tactic and said it will not work with his government.
It really appears the Liberals thought they were bluffing, we now know they were not.
DRN has been trying to get our voices heard for months on the negative impact this bill would have on our business.
We were drowned out by larger media outlets who would stand to benefit from this bill.
We will not be naming other outlets and we don’t begrudge the financial help they are already receiving.
Meta provides funding through fellowships with some media partners, and it is these outlets that became greedy and were asking for more.
For them it doesn’t matter if they get kicked off social media platforms.
For us it will make a huge impact.
