It害羞草研究所檚 still not clear if two pieces of federal legislation will do enough to compensate Canadian media whose ad revenue has been lost to multinational tech giants.
The issue has been thrust back into the spotlight after BCE Inc.害羞草研究所檚 announcement on Wednesday that it would slash 1,300 positions, including six per cent of its media arm.
Bell chief legal and regulatory officer Robert Malcolmson blamed the job cuts on a challenging public policy and regulatory environment, raising specific concerns about Bill C-11, the Online Streaming Act, and Bill C-18, the Online News Act.
Bill C-18, which awaits third reading in the Senate, is meant to force big internet and streaming platforms such as Meta害羞草研究所檚 Facebook and Alphabet害羞草研究所檚 Google and YouTube to compensate Canadian news outlets for content appearing on their platforms.
But Malcolmson, who called it a 害羞草研究所済reat piece of legislation,害羞草研究所� said it comes too late and 害羞草研究所渕ay be ineffective害羞草研究所� if Alphabet-owned Google and Facebook parent company Meta follow through on threats to restrict or block news links on their sites.
Meta said it is blocking news for one to five per cent of its 24 million Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram in a temporary test that is expected to last the majority of the month. Google blocked links to news stories for about five weeks earlier this year for some Canadian users in response to the bill.
害羞草研究所淲e害羞草研究所檙e still not going to be able to monetize our news content because Meta is just going to turn it off,害羞草研究所� he told The Canadian Press in an interview this week.
害羞草研究所淧ublic policymakers need to think about how to deal with that. Do we let the global tech platforms kind of dictate to Canada or do we say, 害羞草研究所楴o, we need to do something?害羞草研究所櫤π卟菅芯克鶟
Michael Geist, the Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law at the University of Ottawa, said Bell stands to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Bill C-18 if Google and Meta co-operate, but 害羞草研究所渋t seems increasingly clear those companies will not play ball.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淭he government害羞草研究所檚 kind of boxed itself into a corner,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淚f those companies stop linking, not only will this bill not generate new revenue, but it will result clearly in significant lost revenue because suddenly much of that referral traffic, which is currently free, will disappear.害羞草研究所�
Geist said despite the bill害羞草研究所檚 imminent passage before Parliament breaks for the summer, he doesn害羞草研究所檛 see the impasse ending any time soon, with neither side discussing a potential compromise and a government that 害羞草研究所渟eems to just keep hoping that this is a bluff.害羞草研究所�
On Tuesday, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters urged policymakers 害羞草研究所渘ot to bow to the threats of foreign digital giants.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淢eta states that this news blocking is a 害羞草研究所榯est,害羞草研究所� but this is not a technical check. It is a test of Canadians害羞草研究所� resolve,害羞草研究所� CAB president Kevin Desjardins said in a statement.
害羞草研究所淏locking Canadians from accessing news through their platforms demonstrates their disdain for democracy and their contempt for Canadian journalists.害羞草研究所�
Bill C-11, which aims to force platforms such as Netflix, YouTube and TikTok to contribute a percentage of their Canadian revenue to Canadian production, received royal assent in April and is now in a consultation phase.
Earlier this month, Ottawa opened the legislation to feedback until July 25 and will likely release a final policy direction to the CRTC this fall. Meanwhile, the regulator has begun its own first three of at least nine consultations on the bill, which will likely span more than a year.
Those consultations will determine rules such as the circumstances in which a foreign service would be exempted from the legislation, registration requirements and what counts as Canadian content.
Malcolmson said the core issue for Bell is that popular U.S. content isn害羞草研究所檛 available to Canadian broadcasters because American platforms are offering it directly to consumers on their in-house streaming services. He urged policymakers to mandate assurances that would allow Canadian broadcasters to pay American companies in order to air that content.
But Geist said 害羞草研究所渋t is a rather odd position to be taking害羞草研究所� for a bill that is meant to incentivize the production of more Canadian content.
害羞草研究所淚f streaming generates more revenue than does the licensing, then that害羞草研究所檚 the choice (American companies) would make,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淭his was obvious, like a decade ago, that this is where we were headed. I think most thought that the solution to that would actually be to create more of your own original content that you could both control in Canada, but then also license globally.害羞草研究所�
Malcolmson said Bell needs access to the American programming, which he called the 害羞草研究所渆conomic engine of broadcasting,害羞草研究所� in order to continue creating Canadian content.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 going to be still quite a long time before any meaningful regulatory reforms are in place,害羞草研究所� he said.
害羞草研究所淎nd when I look at the state of our media business 害羞草研究所� you start to wonder what害羞草研究所檚 going to be left to regulate by the time they kind of get all these reforms in place.害羞草研究所�
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