Bill C-18: What's at Stake for Journalism and Canadian Democracy?

The Canadian government passed Bill C-18, the Online News Act, on June 22, 2023. This bill “aims to enhance fairness in the economic relationship between news businesses and online platforms by enhancing the bargaining position of news businesses relative to that of large and dominant digital news intermediaries.”  The legislation, which comes into effect in December 2023, will require tech giants Meta and Google to make agreements with news publishers to compensate them for revenue-generating news content that appears on their sites. In response, both tech companies have removed links from Canadian news sites from their platforms. This panel will discuss the potential implications of this legislation for journalists, news outlets, news consumers and Canadian democracy.  The virtual discussion took place on September 20,  2023 at 1:00 p.m. ET. It featured lawyer and law professor Dr. Michael Geist; Brian Myles, publisher, Le Devoir, Tai Huynh , founding editor-in-chief and publisher of The Local, Natalie Campbell, senior director North American Government and Regulatory Affairs, The Internet Society, and Paul Samyn, editor, The Winnipeg Free Press. Dr. Mary Lynn Young moderated.