Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, had already banned its users from seeing or sharing links to news articles in Canada before this law came into effect, forcing the platforms to compensate content providers. On Friday, Google, for its part, called on the Canadian government to make “necessary” legislative changes to this law, which is due to come into force next December, citing an “inapplicable” media agreement procedure. This bill, known as C-18, aims to allow digital giants to enter into fair commercial agreements with media outlets over content broadcast on their platforms, under penalty of having to resort to federal arbitration.

“The law subjects Google to potentially unlimited financial liability simply for facilitating access to news sites and directing valuable traffic to publishers,” Google Canada argued in a 12-page document released late Friday. Without agreement on changes before the law takes effect in December, Google could decide to block access to news sites in Canada, the group suggested. “As a result, the timing issue remains, which could put Google in the position of suspending links to news content during the process of obtaining an exception,” the document says.

Earlier in the day, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said she was “optimistic” about convincing Google of the benefits of this law, which faces “great resistance” from digital giants. “Google has been involved and cooperating throughout the process while Facebook blocks news in Canada, even though the law is not yet in force,” she told news agency bosses gathered in Toronto. Inspired by Australia’s measures in 2021, the new Canadian law initially targets Google and Meta and will allow press companies to receive up to 230 million Canadian dollars (158 million euros), according to Ottawa.