Canada plans to tackle Facebook, following the example set by Australia, which started a war with the technology giant when the country’s publishers supported the proposed legislation to demand payment for their content.
Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault condemned Facebook’s actions last week as “highly irresponsible” when the social media giant removed all Australian news content in retaliation from its sites.
Guilbeault warned that Canada would be next to make sure Facebook pays for news content from Canadian publishers. Guilbeault is charged with drafting legislation in the next few months that requires Facebook and Google to shell out Alphabet Inc.
“Canada is at the forefront of this struggle … we are truly one of the first group of countries around the world to do so,” Guilbeault told reporters.
Guilbeault said he had recently met with government ministers from Australia, Finland, France and Germany to market a common front with regard to Google and Facebook, reports the Globe and Mail.
‘This was the first ministerial meeting where we started talking together about what we want to do about web giants, including fair compensation for the media. We believe there is real power in unity over it, ” he said, adding that the growing coalition of countries that are against Facebook and Google could soon reach 15. Will Facebook cut ties with Germany, France, Canada, Australia and other countries joining it? At some point, Facebook’s position will be completely untenable. ”
In Canada, critics of the giants on social media welcomed the country’s position on technological giants. Last week, Canadian lawmaker Alexandre Boulerice introduced a motion in the House of Commons condemning Facebook’s actions, saying that ‘Facebook’s intimidation’ has no place in a democracy.
“We see a very important turning point in the challenge of the monopoly that employs great technology,” Megan Boley, a professor of media studies at the University of Toronto, said in an interview with The Post. “At the moment they are deciding what the truth is for the whole world. What’s exciting is that it’s an issue that countries and Facebook and Google can be held accountable for. “
But others took to Twitter to explode Guilbeault’s plan. “If you force companies to pay for every link they make to another site, you’re essentially breaking the internet,” tweeted @mattolan. “It hurts Canadian media; it does not help. This is a very ill-considered plan. ”
Last year, Canadian publishers sought government action against the tech giants, warning that the country could lose hundreds of jobs for print journalism. According to the Australian approach, Canada’s publishers could recover nearly $ 500 million. The approach requires technology giants to achieve offers to pay for news outlets whose links to stories lead users to their sites.
“We can not respond to proposed legislation until we have seen a draft,” said Kevin Chan, chief executive officer and head of public policy, Facebook Canada, in a statement. “We believe there are other options to support news in Canada that will benefit publishers of all sizes more right and recognize the value that news organizations’ platforms hold. We are ready to work together on these complex issues. ”