Tech giant Meta announced last Thursday that it too would block Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram.
The two companies, who dominate online advertising, have been accused of draining cash away from traditional news organisations while using their content for free.
“We have informed the government that we have made the difficult decision that … we will be removing links to Canadian news from our Search, News, and Discover products and will no longer be able to operate Google News Showcase in Canada,” Google said.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, a former journalist, said “the loss of revenues flowing out of newsrooms in Canada is not just a problem for the journalists who are affected, it’s a problem for the whole country.”
“To have a strong culture, to have a healthy society, to have healthy politics, we need great, well-paid journalists,” she said.
An October 2022 report by Canada’s parliamentary budget watchdog estimated the Online News Act would see Canadian newspapers receive about Can$330 million (US$249 million) per year from digital platforms.
Canada’s measure builds on Australia’s New Media Bargaining Code, a world first, that made Google and Meta pay for news content on their platforms.
AFP signed a five-year agreement on neighbouring rights with Google at the end of 2021 for the internet giant to pay for content from the news agency.
It also signed two commercial deals with the platform.
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