Do you want to follow Australia’s proposal?

Social media restrictions criticized

Canada is discussing a way to make Facebook pay for the news it makes available on its platform.

Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, responsible for drafting legislation that would force tech giants to pay for other companies’ content, has condemned Facebook’s decision to block Australian news pages and has said that wouldn’t stop Canada from being the No. 1 country to get news paid for by the social network. publishers.

“Canada is at the forefront of this battle… We are truly among the 1st group of countries in the world doing this”he said.

In 2019, Canadian media warned of government inaction. They said the Australian approach would allow publishers to recoup $487 million a year.

Guilbeault said Canada could adopt the Australian model, which requires Facebook and Google to make deals to pay media.

“We are working to see which model would be the most appropriate”he said, adding that he had spoken last week with his French, Australian, German and Finnish counterparts about the possibility of working together to ensure fair compensation for content made available by Facebook.

“Soon we’ll have 5, 10, 15 countries adopting similar rules… Will Facebook cut ties with Germany, with France?”Guilbeault asked.

Megan Boler, a professor at the University of Toronto who specializes in social media, said Reuters that Facebook’s decision marked a turning point that would require a common international approach.

“We could really see a coalition, a united front against this monopoly, which could be very powerful“, he stated.

This week, Facebook said news accounts for less than 4% of the content people see on the platform, but said it has helped Australian publishers generate around $407 million over the past year.