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The text and image platform, owned by the company that powers Facebook and Instagram, has had at least 100 million users since it launched last week
Posted on July 12, 2023 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 3 minutes read
Canadian Culture Minister Pablo Rodriguez holds a press conference on Bill C-18, the Online News Act, July 5, 2023 in Ottawa. Photo by Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/Contents of the file article
OTTAWA — Canada’s Heritage Minister is leaving the door open to regulating new social media platform threads under a bill that will force Google and Meta to pay publishers for content they link to or use for other purposes .
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Asked Wednesday if he’s considered covering Meta’s new social network in the Online News Act, known as Bill C-18, Pablo Rodriguez said, “That’s going to be included in the regulation at some point.”
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“It could be caught by the bill. We’re looking into that,” he said.
“We don’t know yet, but it will be more specific as we look into the regulations.”
The text and image platform has gained at least 100 million users since its launch last Wednesday after the law targeting Facebook and Instagram meta properties and Google’s search engine and news products received royal assent on June 22.
The law has since sparked a dispute between the digital giants and the federal government.
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The two tech companies that opposed the legislation have vowed to block access to news from Canadian publishers, while Rodriguez has refused to budge on demands for compensation for Canada’s journalistic industry.
Ottawa to adjust Online News Act amid standoff with tech giants Trudeau says Meta is relinquishing democratic “accountability” for departing from the Online News Act
In his latest salvo, he pulled the federal government’s $10 million in annual ad spend from Meta’s platforms last week.
News and telecommunications companies Quebecor, Bell Media, Torstar Corp., Cogeco and Postmedia Network Canada Corp. took the same step, which was repeated by the Universite de Montreal on Wednesday.
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Rodriguez has spared Google from such treatment, despite his promise to block Canadian publishers’ content, because he believes his concerns will be allayed by regulations the government is still formulating as it awaits formal implementation of the bill later this year works towards
“Google has decided to stay at the table and continue to discuss with us. “Meta took the tyrannical approach and decided not to argue with us anymore,” Rodriquez said.
“We’ve since met with Google on Friday… we’re working on releasing an update this week.”
Rodriguez declined to go into the details of the talks he had with Google, but said they were “open, frank discussions.”
“I think they’re going in the right direction,” he said.
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His talks with Google came as he released a document on Monday that said he was proposing a financial cap on how much Google and Facebook media companies would have to pay in compensation, based on a platform’s estimated Canadian earnings and for each company is specific platform and its position in the news market.
The proposal reiterates that non-monetary offers to news organizations such as B. Training, could be included as grounds for exception, and aims to provide clarity on what constitutes a “significant proportion” of independent local news outlets, indigenous news outlets and official-speaking minority community news outlets.
“I think we’ve shown what we’ve been saying all along: that a lot of the clarification that[the digital giants]have been asking for comes through the regulations,” Rodriguez said.
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While he didn’t elaborate on what the financial cap digital giants might have to pay, or how many organizations they have to negotiate deals with, he stressed that the regulations affect every province and territory, covering both English and French publications Indigenous media and media of all sizes are represented.
CBC, the country’s public broadcaster, could also make some money from the act, Rodriguez said, but that will depend on Google and Meta and who they do business with.
While such matters have yet to be resolved, Rodriguez said he remains open to meeting Meta.
“We don’t want a confrontation. “We were very disappointed with Meta’s attitude, which we believe is irresponsible,” he said.
“We don’t act the same, we say people, come to the table.”
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