OTTAWA – Google dismantles Ottawa's draft regulations specifying the scope of the Online News Act in its document submitted to the federal government during consultations, with the company mentioning that it could block any link to Canadian journalistic content from its platform.

“Unfortunately, although the regulation aims to “clarify the application of the law” (C-18), it creates more uncertainty by attempting to transform the mandatory negotiation model provided for by law into an imposition model,” we can read.

When the federal government presented its draft regulations in September, it emphasized that it was particularly aimed at addressing Google's concerns and wishes.

However, at the end of a 30-day consultation on the issue, the company expressed its displeasure: first in a statement to the media on Monday, then on Friday in publicly available consultation documents.

“The result of this exercise is a hybrid model that represents the worst of both worlds,” one person wrote.

According to the “web giant,” Ottawa’s roadmap boils down to “imposing the obligations of a tax without providing security and () requiring Google to assume all responsibilities and costs associated with negotiating agreements and disbursing funds without the company having the flexibility to do so.” make real arrangements to address their concerns.

Bill C-18, set to take effect in December, aims to force digital giants to enter into compensation agreements with news media outlets for sharing their content.

The draft regulation, presented in September, made it clear that any platform with revenue of at least one billion Canadian dollars per year and with at least 20 million users in Canada each month would be subject to the law.

Ottawa expects the legislation will also apply to Meta, Facebook's parent company, and Google – provided they allow news sharing.

Platforms that do not allow such sharing escape legal regulations.

Meta has already launched such a block for Canadian users of its platforms since August. Google has threatened to do the same but has so far taken no action, except temporarily last spring to conduct “testing.”

In its documents published on Friday, Google does not threaten to turn off the tap permanently, but does mention a possible suspension.

The company points this out in a passage in which it criticizes the deadlines provided for in the laws and regulations. More specifically, it sets deadlines for exempting a platform from a binding negotiating framework, which also has its own deadlines. To be exempt from tax, a “web giant” must voluntarily enter into agreements with a “range” of players, including local media.

Google anticipates that it could find itself in a situation where it seeks an exemption while also being in a mandatory negotiation process.

“The timing issue remains, which could put Google in the position of suspending links to news content during the process of obtaining an exception,” it argues.

The exact contribution that Google may have to pay to the media is determined using a formula that is subject to change.

Under the current federal proposal, compensation would be determined based on the amount of the company's total revenue multiplied by Canada's share of global GDP and then multiplied by 4%.

Google calls this rate “an arbitrary number that overestimates the commercial value of news links.”

Earlier this week, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said she was “still confident” of finding common ground with Google, even though the digital company had already expressed its dissatisfaction.

“The communication channels are open,” the minister said on Wednesday.

On Friday, she argued that while the online news law isn't perfect, the media landscape is changing too quickly for the government to wait any longer.

At a conference hosted by the international news agency MINDS in Toronto, Pascale St-Onge said the government intended to keep the law in place. She made these comments before the Google Docs were published.