Google $1B news initiative won’t stop new legislation, gov’t says

An announcement Thursday from Alphabet Inc.'s Google that it would put aside $1 billion to spend on news publishers around the world -- including two in Canada -- has not dissuaded the Liberal government from its plan to require web giants to compensate Canadian news producers for their content. "We remain committed towards ensuring a comprehensive, more equitable digital regulatory framework in Canada so news organizations are fairly compensated for the use of their content," a spokesperson for Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault said in an email to The Wire Report. "We are following very closely what measures our partners, including France and Australia, are putting in place to support their news organizations and are currently considering options for a made-in-Canada framework," the email read. Guilbeault recently doubled down on his pledge to regulate web giants, following threats from Facebook Inc. to block the sharing of news content on its platform in Australia after similar legislation was introduced in that country. Guilbeault has been tipping the legislation since June, saying that it will follow at least some of the recommendations of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review report chaired by Janet Yale, which released its report in February. Daniel Bernhard, executive director of watchdog group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, said the money put forward by Google was insufficient. "My initial reaction is that $333 million per year for the entire world is a joke. It's also ridiculous that they get to pick and choose who gets paid. This is clearly an attempt to get ahead of regulations," he said in an email to The Wire Report. Bernhard, whose organization advocates for increased CBC/Radio-Canada funding and mandatory payments for news content from web giants, said that the announcement of the Google initiative indicates two things: first, that Google knows "that regulators will deem a fair price to be much higher," and second, that Google hopes "to reinforce the position that governance choices should be based on voluntary good will." "If they want to run a preferred publishers' program, that's their option. But that should not preclude us from setting a minimum fee that platforms over a certain size pay to publishers over a certain size. These payments should not be optional and Google cannot be allowed to set the price unilaterally," Bernhard said. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), which asked the CRTC in July for a package of emergency regulatory relief, endorsed Guilbeault's move toward requiring contributions from the web giants. "The government and regulators should mandate all those in the news ecosystem to give back – annually and with full disclosure – so that we create a more equitable and sustainable future for local news in Canada," CAB chair Lenore Gibson said in a statement emailed to The Wire Report. Google announced in a press release Thursday it was putting aside $1 billion worldwide over the next three years "to publishers creating and curating high-quality content for this product, with plans to extend beyond that as part of our long-term commitment to supporting the news industry.” The web giant's Google News Showcase, the company said, has signed partnerships with some 200 publishers in Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the U.K. and Australia. In Canada, Google has partnered with Village Media, which owns a network of 17 local news sites primarily in Ontario, and the Toronto-headquartered Narcity Media. “The new Google News Showcase program will allow us to drive meaningful new revenue for our business, help us further develop our audience, and provide trusted, in-depth news to our readers in partnership with Google,” Village Media CEO Jeff Elgie said in a Google Canada blog post. "Finding new ways to reach our core audience and showcase our premium content in a curated environment, is a top priority,” Narcity Media CEO Chuck Lapointe said in the release. Google's description of the platform said it will feature story panels that "give participating publishers the ability to package the stories that appear within Google’s news products, providing deeper storytelling and more context through features like timelines, bullets and related articles." — Reporting by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Google $1B news initiative won’t stop new legislation, gov’t says

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Google $1B news initiative won’t stop new legislation, gov’t says

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