REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Government Canada announced new regulations on online information. This rule requires digital giants to pay media for news content.

The legislation aims to support Canada's news sector, which has struggled due to large advertising budgets and hundreds of media closures over the past decade. That's because media companies only target Google and Meta, which account for about 80 percent of all online advertising revenue in Canada.

The two tech giants have been asked to reach fair commercial deals with Canadian media outlets over news and information shared on the platforms, or face binding arbitration.

Reported Japan today, On Friday (8/9/2023), according to a draft regulation published on Friday, the measures will apply to companies with global annual revenues exceeding one billion Canadian dollars. These rules prohibit companies from operating search engines or social media platforms actively used by at least 20 million Canadians and from disseminating information.

In response to the new rules, Meta called them fundamentally flawed and vowed to continue blocking access to news articles on the Facebook and Instagram platforms in Canada. It started on August 1st.

On the other hand, Google, which has also expressed opposition to the new rules, said it would carefully study the proposed regulations to assess whether they could address key structural challenges. Cultural Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge noted that Canadians now rely on digital platforms for news and information.

“These technology platforms must act responsibly and support the dissemination of news that benefits them and Canadian society. Tech giants can and should do their fair share of contribution,” St-Onge said.