Digital giant Meta says it has B次元官网网址渟erious concernsB次元官网网址� about the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 online news bill, which would force tech companies to compensate news outlets for reusing their work on social media platforms.
Rachel Curran of Meta Canada told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that the company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, is going through the proposed law in detail and looking at options for a future response.
She said Meta was B次元官网网址渘ot consultedB次元官网网址� on its content, an assertion sharply disputed by Heritage Minister Pablo RodriguezB次元官网网址檚 spokeswoman, who accused Curran of making a B次元官网网址渇alse claim.B次元官网网址�
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 bill to support the news industry is modelled on a law in Australia, where Facebook introduced a temporary ban on viewing and sharing news on its site last year in protest of the draft legislation.
At the House of Commons committee on public safety, Conservative MP Raquel Dancho asked Curran if a similar ban in Canada was off the table for Facebook.
B次元官网网址淲e are still looking at all of the options based on our evaluation of the legislation,B次元官网网址� Curran replied.
The Meta public-policy head added she could not B次元官网网址渃omment definitively on our future action with respect to the bill specifically, since we are still evaluating it.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 will say we do have some pretty serious concerns,B次元官网网址� she said.
She said the tech giant was unaware of the B次元官网网址渟copeB次元官网网址� of the legislation until it was tabled.
Laura Scaffidi, the heritage ministerB次元官网网址檚 spokeswoman, said it was not true that Rodriguez had not consulted Meta about the bill.
B次元官网网址淭he minister met Facebook on Feb. 10, and officials from the Department of Canadian Heritage met Ms. Curran multiple times since last fallB次元官网网址檚 election. Facebook chose not to participate in the consultation last year.B次元官网网址�
Scaffidi said Rodriguez B次元官网网址渋s open to constructive dialogue with tech giants,B次元官网网址� adding that Facebook was not given the chance to read the legislation before members of the House of Commons.
B次元官网网址淪ince the bill was introduced, we have not heard from Facebook B次元官网网址� until Ms. CurranB次元官网网址檚 false claim today,B次元官网网址� she said.
CanadaB次元官网网址檚 law, which is different in some respects from the Australian model, will set up a process for digital platforms to privately negotiate deals with newspapers, magazines and online news groups, as well as broadcasters that publish news online.
It will permit news organizations to team up to bargain collectively with digital companies for compensation.
If they cannot reach a deal within six months, tech platforms will be forced into mediation with news outlets and, if that doesnB次元官网网址檛 work, then binding arbitration. Rodriguez has said arbitration would be B次元官网网址渁 last resort.B次元官网网址�
Digital platforms that fail to comply with the new law could face penalties of up to $15 million per day for repeated non-compliance, government officials said.
However, Curran said publishers placing links on MetaB次元官网网址檚 platforms B次元官网网址渞eceive significant valueB次元官网网址� from doing so.
She said Meta was already committed to innovative solutions to ensure B次元官网网址渢he sustainability of the news industry in CanadaB次元官网网址� and had programs supporting Canadian journalism.
Michele Austin, director of public policy at Twitter, told MPs the social media platform was also analyzing the bill.
Austin said because Twitter is a closed platform, users clicking on news links have to leave the site to read them.
She told MPs Twitter is not sure if it would be B次元官网网址渟coped in under the bill.B次元官网网址� She said the company does not make a lot of money from news.
B次元官网网址擬arie Woolf, The Canadian Press
