Media outlets seek rescue from tech giants
Canadian government challenged to follow Aaustralia’s lead to rein in U.S. big tech
Canadian zations, ing like challenged follow plement to On save bled Google Thursday, Australia’s the which dry strong news industry. and the by say tech Facebook, government new media News lead they companies measures and organi- are Media have im- be- to Canada, presenting ital star, publishers issued a major a lobby report including print group requesting and Tor- dig- retthat low bargain them the federal collectively to band government together with the al- to tech conduct giants, on “web impose monopolies,” a code of and large enforce financial penalties. that code with
This model would help the struggling industry take on the “monopolistic practices” of the Aamerican tech giants and level tthe playing field at no cost to taxpayers and without the need for new user fees or subsidies, the organization says.
Media companies, with the a approvalf form unit ffor intellectual the to a negotiate use collective of of government, property their compensation content bargaining by Google would and aand collect Facebook, around which 80 per currently cent of digital advertising revenues in Canada, according to the organization.
“Currently, media outlets are forced to play by their rules, and tthey can pay us whatever they f feel like. We want to end a mo- nopolistic abuse of power,” said Jamie Irving, vice-president of Brunswick News Publishing and chair of News Media Canada’s working group.
Canadian anti-competition law currently prohibits media outlets from forming a negotiating bloc, so legislative changes would be needed for them to collectively negotiate with the tech giants. Irving oversaw the “Levelling the Digital Playing Field” report released Thursday, which reviewed how various countries have tried to address challenges posed by the dominance of web giants in digital advertising. “The Australia model was clearly the best model for Canada,” Irving said. “Our two countries are similar in many ways.” In addition to allowing the country’s news media to form a collective bargaining unit, Australia is working on a legally binding code of conduct to ensure that tech companies don’t try to expand their market domination and anti-competitive prices. Those that violate tthe rules would be subject to fines in the hundreds of mil- lions of dollars.
“The enforcement would have teeth,” Irving said.
Advocates have long argued that Canadian publishing laws — mainly written for the predigital era — are antiquated.
News Media Canada represents publications that reach more than 90 per cent of the news media readership in Canada through daily, regional, community and ethnocultural news publications.
Its membership includes Torstar — which publishes the dailies Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator, Waterloo Region Record, Niagara Falls Review, welland Tribune, St. Catha- rines Standard and Peterborough Examiner — and Glacier Media, Black Press, Postmedia, the Globe and Mail, La Presse, Quebecor and Brunswick News.
Irving says that he hopes that the proposal will achieve broad bipartisan support in Ottawa.
Last month, the federal throne speech announced that Canada will pass a new law compelling companies like F facebook and Google to pay for tthe stories, music and videos t they take from other sources and post online.
“Web giants are taking Canadians’ money while imposing their own priorities. Things m must change and will change,” said the speech read by Governor General Julie Payette.
“The government will act to ensure their revenue is shared more fairly with our creators aand media, and will also require t them to contribute to the cre- aation, production and distribu- tion of our stories, onscreen, in lyrics, in music and in writing,” she added.