The Canadian government presented this Tuesday (5) a bill aimed at forcing internet giants, such as Facebook and Google, to establish commercial agreements with the media to pay for the distribution of their content.

“Thanks to this law, the internet giants will be held accountable, contribute to the establishment of a more equitable information ecosystem, an ecosystem that supports independence, freedom of the press”, has declared the Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodrguez during a press conference. hurry.

The text aims to “ensure that the media and journalists receive fair remuneration for their work”, according to a press release from the ministry.

The bill, dubbed the “Online News Act”, is inspired by the text adopted in 2021 by Australia, the first of its kind in the world.

More than 450 Canadian news outlets have closed since 2008. In the past two years, there have been more than 60, according to the ministry.

The press accuses Google and other major platforms of profiting from journalistic content without sharing the revenue from this material.

To remedy this situation, the European Union introduced in 2019 a “neighborhood right” which should allow press publishers to receive remuneration for the content used by online platforms.

AFP signed a “neighboring rights” agreement with Google at the end of 2021, which pays the agency for five years for content presented by the American giant, in addition to two commercial contracts, also signed for five years.

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