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Imagine news outlets getting paid by tech companies for the journalism that fuels their feeds. That鈥檚 an idea Canada is hoping to make a reality by the end of 2023, with a new piece of legislation that demands large tech companies pay for Canadian news. 

The law has drawn the ire of Big Tech鈥檚 largest players, who announced in June they will block Canadian news from showing up on Facebook, Instagram, and Google. But it could set a precedent for how other countries might legally secure the future of journalism鈥攂y having enormously wealthy tech companies share profit where newsmakers say it鈥檚 due. 

Behind the controversy is , or the Online News Act. Passed by federal lawmakers back in June, the Online News Act stipulates that tech companies must pay journalism outlets if they want to use their content. The government says the bill aims to make the Canadian digital-news marketplace more fair and sustainable. But tech companies鈥擬eta and Google being the loudest voices in the room鈥攁ren鈥檛 happy with the bill, with Google calling it 鈥�.鈥�

In fact, both companies have decided that the only way forward is to 鈥攁 move critics of the companies鈥� response say could have disastrous local consequences.

鈥淲hen Google and Facebook decide that they do not want to have news articles on their websites, that means that people, for the most part, don鈥檛 know where to go to find out information,鈥� says Jon Schleuss, president of NewsGuild-CWA, which supports journalists working in the United States and Canada.

The argument comes as journalism outlets around the world struggle to make ends meet financially, due in part to the fact that Meta and Google dominate the market that funded news media for centuries: advertising. In the last five years alone, Canadian publications have , most of them in print. The United States has lost three times that many in the last 10 years, says Schleuss.

鈥淭hese platforms benefit from, you know, the tens of thousands of articles generated on a daily basis,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd they are paying nothing to get that content.鈥� 

Canada has quantifying just how much it thinks Google and Facebook should pay publishers to license their content鈥�$172 million for Google, and $62 million for Facebook.

Meta and Google Have 鈥淕obbled Up鈥� the Ad Money News Relies On, Say Newsmakers

Canada鈥檚 news woes are a symptom of a global problem鈥攈ow can journalism outlets around the world make money when tech companies make digital advertising so cheap? For more than 300 years, newspapers and stations to fund their newsrooms. With the advent of the internet, news readership went up. But it also made ads much cheaper to buy, cutting revenue for newsmakers.

Google has said it didn鈥檛 cause the disruption of the news business model鈥攖he internet did. But the company is responsible for what happens next, says Schleuss. Google, for example, handles % of worldwide internet searches.

鈥淵ou now have a duopoly effect, where the two largest internet companies control all of the digital advertisements,鈥� says Schleuss of Meta and Alphabet, Google鈥檚 parent company. 鈥淭hey have basically created the only place where you can go and buy advertisements that can get any eyeballs online, and then they turn around and want to use and benefit from the content that鈥檚 created by the publishers.鈥� 

But if Google and Meta shared some of their revenues with news outlets, and those news outlets used the money to fund journalism jobs, it could sustain the very industry that benefits Big Tech while also doing a service for democracy. 

Could the United States Follow Suit? 

Two years ago, a similar story played out in Australia when its government . The bill was intended to force Meta and Google to the bargaining table with news publishers to discuss compensation if they couldn鈥檛 reach a deal.

The bill scared big tech companies. Facebook said if the law went ahead, they would block Australian users from sharing news content. Google , even though the year prior, Australia鈥檚 wildfires were the platform鈥檚 of the past decade鈥攈igher search numbers even than those of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Publishers around the world often feel at the mercy of Big Tech, which they say is actively deprioritizing news鈥攅arlier this year, a change in Meta鈥檚 algorithm in traffic to news and media pages.

Ultimately, the government and the tech companies reached an agreement, whereby the participating companies with media outlets to pay those outlets when the content they provide gets clicks and produces ad revenue, says Australia鈥檚 Treasury Department. While transparency remains a challenge, an hailed the code as a 鈥渟uccess.鈥� The agreement has set a global precedent, opening the doors for other countries to strike their own agreements with tech giants鈥攖he U.S. included. 

The U.S. Congress is working on its own adaptation of Australia鈥檚 bargaining code鈥攖he . The act would require that tech companies compensate certain journalism outlets for licensing their content, in a way similar to the Australian model. But some say that , in that it leaves out bargaining opportunities for smaller outlets and favors a group of publications largely managed by hedge funds. These hedge funds, like Alden Global Capital, effectively to make quick profits. The Financial Times has calculated that are owned by such hedge funds.

鈥淭he money [from tech companies] actually needs to be directed to supporting jobs [in journalism] and providing transparency,鈥� says Schleuss. 鈥淔rankly, we鈥檙e not going to support a piece of legislation unless it has those requirements.鈥�

California has developed its own Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, passed in the state Assembly earlier this summer. If California鈥檚 Senate passes the bill, it would mandate that companies like Google and Meta share advertising revenue that comes from reported content. It would go a step further in requiring that at least 70% of that shared revenue fund journalism jobs鈥攁 critical aspect. 

Both bills have yet to reach senate approval. 

Canadians Boycott Meta As It Begins Blacking Out News

In Canada, there has been a mixed public response to the Online News Act. Some say it鈥檚 a 鈥攐thers see it as the . The federal government has said the law that make more than $1.3 billion per year and have more than 20 million monthly Canadian users. Right now, that鈥檚 just Meta鈥檚 Facebook and Google. Since Meta announced its plan to pull Canadian news from its platforms, several bodies across Canada are boycotting the company by suspending their advertising with Meta. The federal government, and several of the province of Quebec鈥檚 largest cities, are among them. 

So are institutions like the McCord Museum, a Canadian social-history museum in downtown Montreal that has long prioritized investing in local and national media. 鈥淧roducing reliable, rigorous and non-partisan journalistic information requires considerable expertise and resources, both human and material,鈥� announced the museum鈥檚 Canadian president, Anne Eschapasse, . 鈥淧ress organizations must be remunerated for the research, analysis, production and dissemination of the information that is distributed on digital platforms.鈥�

Some entities have encouraged Canadians across the country to stop using Meta sites all together. During a two-day boycott of Meta platforms, 鈥攆ormerly Friends of Canadian Broadcasting鈥攕aw thousands of Canadians #GoDark on Facebook and Instagram, says Friends director Sarah Andrews. The number included individuals, communications organizations, and the entire caucus of a political party, the Bloc Qu茅b茅cois. 

Friends supports Bill C-18. They say that bills of this kind correct the market imbalance that Meta and Google have created in the online advertising world, giving media creators a fair chance at earning advertising revenue. 

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why organizations like our own have been giving Canadians a way of expressing their frustration about the news block, to encourage Meta to come back to the table,鈥� says Andrews.

Meta鈥檚 pilot test for limiting news availability comes as Canada is battling its worst wildfire season on record. When a raging wildfire forced a Canadian capital city to evacuate 20,000 residents last month, the void of Canadian news on Meta to access reliable evacuation information. Google is still in conversation with the Canadian government over the act and has yet to officially test blocking news in Canada in the same way Meta has. 

But the fight isn鈥檛 over yet, says Andrews. The government is still in talks with Google over Bill C-18. If Meta moves forward with its plan to pull Canadian news from its platforms, groups like Friends will continue mobilizing Canadian people, governments, and institutions to fight for their democracy. 

And with more and more countries considering implementing , tech companies will have no choice but to comply with the demands voiced by their user base鈥攁 chorus that values the contributions of news and media makers.聽