Google amplifies its messaging around C-18 through commissioned poll

A survey commissioned by Alphabet Inc.’s Google Canada found that most Canadians are unfamiliar with the provisions set out in Canada’s News Compensation Act, but when presented with Google's concerns over the bill, they agree with the web giant. Research firm Abacus Data conducted the survey and released the results Friday. The firm surveyed 2,207 Canadian adults between Aug. 19 and Aug. 26. The government launched the Online News Act – known as Bill C-18 – in April, which seeks to create a new regime for the remuneration of news outlets by digital platforms. News organizations will be able to bargain collectively under the act. Only 10 per cent of respondents described the Canadian journalism industry as being “financially strong and sustainable” and 45 per cent said it was “ok and mostly sustainable.” According to the survey two in three of the respondents heard about the bill but only eight per of those surveyed were “very familiar” with C-18. The surveyor then presented the respondents with Google’s concerns over the bill and found that the majority agreed with the tech giant’s positions. Seventy per cent of respondents were “worried” when they found out that “the bill gives the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) unprecedented, sweeping new powers to regulate every aspect of the Canadian news industry even though these decisions are far outside of its expertise as a broadcast regulator.” Under Bill C-18 the CRTC will get involved as a final arbitrator when news organizations and global web giants like Facebook Inc. and Google fail to establish commercial deals for the sharing of news content. According to the survey 69 per cent of respondents were worried when they found out “the proposed law uses an extremely broad definition for 'eligible news businesses' and doesn’t require eligible news organizations to follow basic journalistic standards.” The news outlets that qualify will be assessed on four different criteria by the CRTC: entities that regularly employ two or more journalists in Canada; operate in Canada; are engaged in the production of news content; and are not significantly engaged in producing content that promotes its interests or reports on the activities of an organization. The survey also asked whether or not Canadians would be willing to “pay a small fee to access a news article that appeared in a Google search result.” While the bill does envision the remuneration of news outlets by web giants for content, C-18 does not stipulate that users would be required to pay to access links to news content. The survey found that 75 per cent of Canadians wanted the bill to ensure that eligible news outlets follow journalistic standards and ethics and that local news is protected and given the resources to continue to operate, and 70 per cent did not want misinformation to be treated as news. Seventy-three per cent felt it was necessary to have search engines, such as Google, “continue to work and perform the way they do now.” “The desire for a balanced approach that both supports local news, protects the integrity of Google Search, and does not amplify misinformation is shared by a wide majority of Canadians across the political spectrum,” the survey found. More than half the respondents, 64 per cent, said they use Google to find and access news a few times a week with 41 per cent using it daily. Google has also been pushing back against the Online Streaming Act, Bill C-11. Earlier this month YouTube launched an email campaign to its content creators urging them to fight the bill by creating posts on their social media channels “about what hangs in the balance.” – Reporting by Jenna Cocullo at jcocullo@thewirereport.ca and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca.

Google amplifies its messaging around C-18 through commissioned poll

Broadcast | October 14, 2022

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Google amplifies its messaging around C-18 through commissioned poll

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