Ottawa — Canada’s Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez on Thursday criticized Google and YouTube for acting like bullies, after publishing a blog the day before criticizing proposed legislation to regulate web giants.

“I think it’s particularly special that a foreign multinational company comes here to try to intimidate Canadians with their words,” he said upon arrival at the Ottawa cabinet meeting.

Bill C-11 seeks to modernize the Broadcasting Act to include Internet broadcasting platforms such as Youtube and Spotify.

When asked about the risk of retaliation, Mr. Rodriguez said there was a need to “go back to it” because Bill C-11 appealed to “common sense.”

“That calculation there, it’s very simple. With this bill, we’re asking the “streamers” we love, Disney and others, to contribute to Canadian culture, he summarized. Facke, scare campaigns don’t really impress me.”

On Wednesday, YouTube’s “Chief Product Officer” Neal Mohan published a blog post on Google Canada’s website in which he said his platform’s ability to provide a “personalized experience” would be impacted if the Passing legislation offering users the videos that “you want to watch” and “will be of value to you”.

“In its current form, Bill C-11 would require YouTube to tamper with these systems and display content based on CRTC priorities rather than the interests of Canadian users,” reads the pleading, titled “Canada: Preserve your Youtube.” .

In other words, the platform argues, internet users are being offered “content that a Canadian government agency has prioritized rather than content that interests them.”

Mohan is inviting readers to sign an electronic petition urging senators to respect Canadians’ “choices” and leave their “posts and streams alone.”

During a parliamentary committee meeting in June, Secretary Rodriguez said his bill would generate $1 billion a year in spin-offs. He has also long denied any claims that platform users are being bullied for sharing content.

Pablo Rodriguez has always maintained that the bill would not give the Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) the power to regulate user-generated content such as “cat videos.”