The Canadian Government claims that once implemented, the Online News Act is expected to result in: “A flexible regulatory framework that facilitates fair business relationships between digital platforms and news outlets

Chandigarh (ABC Live): On June 22, 2023, Bill C-18, the Online News Act, received Royal Assent in paving way to its operation in Canada.

Following Royal Assent, the Department of Canadian Heritage will publish draft regulations in the Canada Gazette specifying the application of the Act and provide guidance on implementing the exemption criteria. Everyone will have an opportunity to consult and provide feedback through this Canada Gazette process.

After above mentioned legal process, no social media platform like Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Google, Microsoft, Apple News Canada, Reddit, Verizon Media (Yahoo) etc can publish news content created by qualified Canadian journalism organizations established under the Income Tax Act without fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news outlets.

The Canadian Government claims that once implemented, the Online News Act is expected to result in: “A flexible regulatory framework that facilitates fair business relationships between digital platforms and news outlets

The sustainability of the Canadian news ecosystem, including the sustainability of independent news businesses as well as indigenous and official language minority communities’ news businesses, and support for innovative business models.

A diversity of news businesses within the Canadian news landscape that provide service to different populations in every province and territory including francophone and anglophone communities, black and other racialized communities; and The maintenance of press independence.”

Whereas The Internet Society, working for open internet concludes that, “The Online News Act sets out an ambitious goal of providing financial support to news businesses that have not succeeded in competing with large online platforms for revenue. It is clearly the goal of the legislation to change the balance of market power. Unfortunately, to do so, the Act imposes features on the operation of the Internet that are foreign to its fundamental design. The Internet is designed to be open, globally connected, secure, and trustworthy. Because of the mechanisms in the Act, it is not compatible with the Internet’s basic design. Instead, the Act envisions an Internet that is not open, but closed to innovation. It envisions an Internet that is not globally connected, but where some connections are hampered or prevented. It offers not security, but a future with incentives to reduce security for content to permit inspection of that content. And it offers not a trustworthy Internet, but one that people cannot rely on to act the same way from day-to-day.”