Trudeau slams Alphabet, Meta for bullying tactics over Canadian news bill

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused tech giants Alphabet and Meta of employing “bullying tactics” in response to proposed legislation aimed at providing financial support to news publishers. The Online News Act seeks to force companies such as Google and Facebook to negotiate commercial agreements with news outlets and compensate them for their content.

In anticipation of the legislation, Google and Facebook have conducted tests this year to restrict some Canadian users’ access to and sharing of news content. Trudeau criticised the companies’ actions, stating, “The fact that these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians’ access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem, and now they’re resorting to bullying tactics to try and get their way. It’s not going to work.”

Introduced in April 2022, the bill is modelled on a similar law passed in Australia in 2021. Google, however, argues that the Canadian bill’s provisions are more stringent than those in Australia and Europe, and has proposed amendments “to align with international norms” and address its concerns.

Google spokesperson Shay Purdy responded to Trudeau’s comments, saying, “We’ve come to the table with reasonable and pragmatic solutions that would make the bill work the way it’s intended to and increase our investments in the Canadian news ecosystem.” Purdy also noted that the bill “has some serious problems that make it unworkable for our products and services.”

The proposed legislation, which passed Canada’s House of Commons in December, is currently in the country’s unelected upper chamber of parliament, where it is unlikely to be blocked. Canadian media organisations are pushing for tighter regulation of tech companies to prevent them from dominating the online advertising market and impacting news businesses.

Trudeau emphasised the importance of holding these corporations accountable, stating, “The various internet giants, like Meta, are posting every year record profits while, at the same time, local independent news is struggling across this country. We will continue to make sure that these incredibly profitable corporations contribute to strengthening our democracy.”

Last week, Meta argued that the bill is fundamentally flawed and maintains that news content holds no economic value for its platforms.