Canada Is Set to Become a Global Leader in Levelling the Playing Field for Local News
In a democracy, nothing is more vital than a healthy, vibrant local news media. But the threats from Big Tech are increasing every day. The future of your local news is at stake.
The government’s 100-day plan will place Canada in the front ranks of global leadership standing up for local news. The commitment is clear. All parties in Parliament support decisive action.
News Media Canada, representing hundreds of trusted titles in our print and digital media industry, and our news publishing partners across Canada and around the world, call on Canadian parliamentarians to work together to level the digital playing field between local news and Big Tech.
Now is the time for the government to act and pass legislation.
THE FUTURE OF YOUR LOCAL NEWS IS AT STAKE
Google and Facebook are two of the biggest companies in the world.
You might say they're modern-day Goliaths. They are using their monopoly power to scoop up 80% of online advertising revenues and to free ride on the news content produced by hardworking journalists and publishers across Canada.
Maybe it's time to start leveling the playing field a little, so the Davids of this world can start fighting back. That's what Australia is doing. They're putting in place a comprehensive solution to enable news publishers in that country to counteract the power of the web giants. They're doing it with support from all the main political parties. And they're doing it without new government funding, or new taxes, or new consumer fees. We think our parliament here in Canada should do the same.
It's all in our new report Levelling the Digital Playing Field which provides an in-depth analysis of actions taken in democracies around the world to address the same challenge.
Read the report.
And tell your MP to stand up with
David against the Goliaths.
“A strong, diverse and independent news media is valued by Canadians and crucial to our democracy.
Publishing real news costs money, and Google and Facebook – two of the biggest companies in the world – cannot continue to be allowed to free-ride on the backs of Canadian news media publishers who produce news content, without fair compensation.
We have heard the global web giants’ hollow commitment to journalism and to token compensation. The time to tackle the global web giants, as the federal government indicated in September, is now.”
In the News
On October 22, 2020 Canada’s news media publishers called on all political parties in Parliament to support the adoption of Australia’s approach to combat the monopolistic practices of Google and Facebook.
- National Post - Bill Grueskin: Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code was a good first step; Canada's approach looks to be even better
- Hill Times - News publishers need legislation passed by June
- Osoyoos Today - IAPA highlights a program in Canada that forces sites to pay media
- National Post - Opinion: Liberal plan to compel Big Tech to share revenues a lifeline for news publishers
- Hill Times - News publishers need legislation passed by June
- Press Gazette (UK) - Canada’s news industry expects up to $150m annual windfall from Australia-style big tech crackdown
- The Globe and Mail - Liberals’ Parliamentary agenda lists three internet regulation bills as early priorities
- Toronto Star - Australia’s news financing model puts a filling in the ‘truth decay’ that plagues digital platforms
- Peterborough Examiner - Liberals’ election platform proposes that social media companies pay for Canadian journalism
- Toronto Star – Media industry cautiously optimistic the government will soon force digital giants to pay for their content
- Toronto Star – Time for Canada to level the digital playing field
- BNN Bloomberg – Federal government needs to pay more attention to Big Tech regulation: Bruce Croxon
- National Post – Opinion: Why Canada must fight Big Tech’s unregulated monopoly power
- Policy Magazine – Time for Canada to level the digital playing field
- The New York Times - As the press weakens so does democracy
- The Logic – Letter for the editor: On Big Tech and publishers, Canada must follow Australia’s Lead
- National Post - Vass Bednar: France fining Google 500 million euros a stark contrast to Canada's complacent competition policy
- Wall Street Journal - Google Fined $593 Million in France Over Treatment of News Publishers
- Financial Post - Postmedia Network's chief executive renews call for legislation forcing tech giants to pay for content
- Globe and Mail - Postmedia pushes for federal, industry-wide legislation on payment for content by tech companies
- Financial Times - Danish media club together to make US tech giants pay for news
- iPolitics – Only by collaborating can countries regulate big tech, say experts
- Toronto Star - Facebook says it could still ban Canadians from sharing news as government eyes regulation
- The Globe and Mail - The failure of local news left a gap for Google and Facebook – and caused problems for democracy everywhere
- Toronto Star - ‘Highly irresponsible’: Ottawa blasts Facebook’s ban on the sharing of news in Australia
- Toronto Star - Facebook has just cut off Australia’s access to news in the middle of a pandemic — another reason why government intervention is needed now
- Toronto Star - Microsoft voices support for Canadian news publishers getting paid by big tech companies
- Financial Post - With new legislation, Steven Guilbeault will make few friends in Big Tech
- The Standard - Decline of local news in U.S. among the factors that led to Capitol insurrection
- Toronto Star - Google and Facebook got growing share of federal ad dollars after Justin Trudeau took power
- National Post – The tech industry’s disinformation campaign
- Hamilton News – It’s time Google and Facebook starting paying for the content that’s making them rich
- Toronto Star - Why Canada’s media industry is in more danger than you think — and what we can do to save it
- Toronto Star - News Media Canada says forcing big tech to pay for content could help pay for 700 journalism jobs
- National Post - NP View: In the shadows, democracy withers
- St. Catharines Standard - Niagara Liberal MPs say Facebook, Google should share ad revenues with Canada’s news content producers
- The Peterborough Examiner - US digital giants profit from Peterborough journalists' work
- Vauxhall Advance - Canadian publishers call on feds to address online monopoly
- iPolitics - Like Australia, Canada should force web giants to split ad dollars with news media: report
- Toronto Star - Ottawa now has a road map to rein in digital giants
- Toronto Star - Reliable news is essential for democracy. What responsibility does Big Tech have to make sure it remains accessible?
- Toronto Star - Canada’s newspaper publishers call for a new regulatory regime to safeguard trusted journalism
- Ottawa Citizen - News publishers call on Ottawa to level playing field
- Global News - Canadian media group: Tech companies should pay for news
- Global News - Canadian publishers call for collective bargaining with Google, Facebook
- The Abbotsford News – National media calling for level playing field with Google, Facebook
- The Toronto Sun – Newspaper publishers ask feds for level playing field with Google, Facebook
- Toronto Star – Canadian media outlets challenge the government to save the industry with new measures to rein in big tech
- National Post – Canadian publishers call on Ottawa to force Big Tech to pay for news
- National Post – What happens with a local newspaper dies?
- Financial Post – Diane Francis: Ottawa must take on the tech bullies
- Financial Post – Big Tech’s gain has been new publishers’ pain, industry group’s report finds
- Financial Post – Unpacking the “Australian precedent” for rebalancing power between Big Tech and news publishers
- East Central Alberta Review - 21st Century Robber Barons
- CBC – Sustaining journalism for Canadians
What Google and Facebook don’t want you to know about their campaign against local news
Canada’s local news publishers, big and small, came together to urge the federal government – and MPs of all parties – to join with democracies around the world in fighting Google and Facebook’s relentless attacks against local news.
The two web giants use their monopoly positions to deny local newspapers the revenues – primarily from advertising – that pays for real journalism (outlined in the report above). Google and Facebook combined collect 80% of all online revenues in Canada.
Google has a monopoly over every step of buying and selling digital advertising. Since 2001 Google has aggressively acquired digital display advertising technology companies that posed any threat. Former competitors have been integrated into their global ecosystem. Google now controls and derives revenue from every aspect of the digital advertising supply chain for publishers and advertisers.
