The same applies if Google decides to implement a similar suspension as the company has already threatened.

However, with the release of its regulations clarifying the scope of C-18, the federal government hopes to address the concerns and demands of the digital giants.

“We’ve certainly heard criticism from platforms about what they want to see, what elements they’d like to have predictable, and today’s proposed regulations respond to those criticisms and those requests,” a senior federal official said during a technical briefing.

For full details, see Noovo Info’s dedicated file: C-18: Meta and Google vs. the Canadian Media

Bill C-18 or the Online News Act is scheduled to go into effect next December. The aim is to force the digital giants to enter into compensation agreements with the news media for sharing their content.

“We believe there is a reasonable way for the platforms to get involved,” the senior official added.

End of disallowance of meta

However, immediately after the release of the draft regulations, Meta signaled that it had no intention of changing its mind.

“Today’s proposed regulations will not affect our business decision to stop making information available in Canada,” a company spokesman said.

According to Meta, “the regulatory process is failing to address the fundamentally flawed premise at the core of the online news law.”

“The legislation is based on the false claim that Meta unfairly profits from news content shared on our platforms,” ​​it argued.

For its part, Google preferred to wait with an opinion on the regulations. “We are carefully reviewing the proposed regulations to assess whether they address the major structural challenges of Bill C-18, which unfortunately have not been addressed in the legislative process,” said an agency spokesman.

Other target platforms?

The draft regulations, presented on Friday, would mean that any platform with at least CA$1 billion in revenue per year and at least 20 million users in Canada each month would be subject to the law so long as it enables message sharing.

Ottawa expects Google and Facebook to fall into the C-18 circle based on sales, but there are signs Instagram isn’t.

According to government estimates, Google could pay $172 million a year and Facebook $62 million.

A consultation process on the draft regulation must begin, which is intended in particular to clarify whether other platforms are covered by the law. Companies that meet the criteria based on their Canadian revenue and users have 30 days to report to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

Culture Minister Pascale St-Onge said she looked forward to a constructive discussion with those responsible for digital platforms.

“I believe we have a common goal: to provide Canadians with quality access to news and current affairs,” she said in a statement. “Tech giants can and should provide their fair share, nothing more.”

The exact contribution to be paid by a digital company is determined according to a formula that is subject to change.

The amount of compensation would be the company’s total revenues multiplied by Canada’s share of world GDP and then multiplied by 4%.

Benefits in kind, such as training, can be taken into account in the calculation.

To be considered fair, an agreement must provide for remuneration that is within a range of at least 20% of the average ratio between the remuneration paid and the amount corresponding to the salaries of full-time journalists for all agreements.

C-18 aims to encourage digital businesses to agree voluntarily with a range of stakeholders, including local media, otherwise a three-tier negotiation framework would be imposed on them.

The first is to set a deadline of around three months for the parties to reach an agreement. A mediation procedure can then be initiated with a maximum duration of around four months and, as a last resort, an arbitration procedure with a maximum duration of 45 days.