By Canadian Press

Online News Act funding capped for private broadcasters, CBC: report

Dec 15, 2023 | 9:08 AM

OTTAWA — The amount of funding private broadcasters will get through the government’s $100-million deal with Google will be limited — with an even lower cap for the CBC — a federal government source confirms.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters not yet made public, confirmed a report in the Globe and Mail on the final regulations for the Online News Act, which are being published today.

Google agreed last month to contribute $100 million a year, fixed to inflation, to Canadian news publishers, in a deal that had the Liberal government bending to the tech giant’s demands after it threatened to remove news links from its search engine.

As a result Google will be exempt from the legislation, which compels tech companies to enter into compensation agreements with news publishers for linking to their content, if it generates revenue for those digital giants.

Google will instead enter into a single collective bargaining group that will serve as a media fund.

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A Google spokesperson says the company believes the law is “fundamentally flawed,” but pleased it was able to find “a viable path to exemption in the final regulations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2023.

The Canadian Press