Amy Watson
Research expert covering news and publishing
News in Canada and Bill C-18 - statistics & facts
Canada’s Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act, is heavily debated. The bill requires social media companies to compensate Canadian news outlets for content they share – and the effects are profound. Aimed at Google and Meta (and targeting platforms Facebook and Instagram) the law has already made an impact. Restrictions on Canadian news content on the latter two platforms were introduced by Meta in August 2023, leaving Canadians unable to see or access news content there. But outside of the realms of big tech, the Canadian government, and the news organizations themselves, how do the Canadian public feel about the move?
The same applies when thinking about the topic of asking consumers to pay for news – around 80 to 90 percent of Canadians do not pay for an online news subscription. Whilst Bill C-18 does not require audiences to pay, news organizations may hope that a lack of free news on social media could lead to sign-ups. The aforementioned data, however, is evidence enough that this is an unlikely eventuality, especially in the midst of an economic downturn. At the same time, it is of limited value to expect consumers to prioritize paying for news at all if changes fail to come from the top.
So: will Big Tech pay? There is evidence to suggest so. Canada was not the first country to go to battle with Big Tech. In 2021, Australia passed its own similar law, the News Media Bargaining Code, which although controversial, has since seen success. A number of agreements were made which may never have come to pass without the code.
Canadian perspectives on Bill C-18
A survey held in September 2023 revealed that Canadians are split in their support for the bill, and a third admitted not knowing enough about the situation to comment. Younger consumers were the most likely to oppose Bill C-18 – perhaps unsurprising given this demographic’s high engagement with social media in general and their tendency to get news in on such platforms. Coming to the question of ethics, only around a third of Canadians felt that Bill C-18 was a good thing in that it could help struggling media gain additional revenue from social media platforms. The majority believed news should be free and accessible for everyone and media outlets under financial pressure had other ways to make money. Since buying physical newspapers fell out of favor and reading free online news became the norm, it is indeed challenging to expect consumers to accept that news will no longer be available via popular networks like Facebook and Instagram.The same applies when thinking about the topic of asking consumers to pay for news – around 80 to 90 percent of Canadians do not pay for an online news subscription. Whilst Bill C-18 does not require audiences to pay, news organizations may hope that a lack of free news on social media could lead to sign-ups. The aforementioned data, however, is evidence enough that this is an unlikely eventuality, especially in the midst of an economic downturn. At the same time, it is of limited value to expect consumers to prioritize paying for news at all if changes fail to come from the top.
So: will Big Tech pay? There is evidence to suggest so. Canada was not the first country to go to battle with Big Tech. In 2021, Australia passed its own similar law, the News Media Bargaining Code, which although controversial, has since seen success. A number of agreements were made which may never have come to pass without the code.
Breaking the mold: a new era for the news industry?
As of December 2023, Google will pay 100 million Canadian dollars to news outlets, and according to reports, funds will be distributed to eligible news outlets based on the number of full-time journalists employed there. The move should be a positive sign for the future of the Canadian news industry in terms of revenue generation, particularly as more deals are struck. After Australia, and now Canada, will other countries follow? If so, the future of the news industry could look dramatically different in the next few years, with supporters of such laws arguing that they level the playing field between tech giants and the power they currently exert on the news industry.
