Canadians want Google, Meta to pay to share news but don’t think C-18 is the correct response

A majority of Canadians agree that big tech companies like Google and Meta should pay for their access to Canadian content. However, recently collected data from the Angus Reid Institute found Canadians are concerned with how the government enforces this action.

The Online News Act (Bill C-28)  received royal assent last month, forcing Meta, Google, and others to pay news publishers for accessing their content. In turn, both Meta and Google said they would block users from accessing Canadian news content on their respective platforms.

Survey results from Angus Reid found that 61 percent of Canadians want “Big Tech” companies to pay organizations for sharing their news content. However, 63 percent of Canadians are also concerned about losing access to Canadian news access on Facebook and Google, suggesting the government should take differing approaches.  The data further shows that 48 percent of Canadians want the government to “back down”

Image credit: Angus Reid Institute

Last week, the federal government pulled advertising on Facebook and Instagram. It didn’t apply the same measures to Google, stating the company wanted to keep talking about a “path forward.”

“For Canadians, the loss of Google and Facebook as news vehicles would be considerable,” the non-profit wrote. “Each is used by more than two-in-five Canadians daily for news, a proportion higher than all other platforms and websites.”

The Angus Reid Institute collected survey results online between July 4th and 6th through 1,610 Canadians.

Image credit: Shutterstock  

Source: Angus Reid Institute