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Tech major Google has reportedly taken a step towards restricting Canadian users’ access to news links on its search engine, according to a media report on Monday.
The development underlines the company’s rejection of government regulations addressing its concerns regarding an impending online content law representing a setback for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration, which has been striving to compel both Google and Meta platforms to engage in negotiations for compensating local publishers as mandated by the Online News Act set to take effect on 19 December.
Previously, Meta has turned down these regulations and notified its intention to continue blocking Canadian users from accessing news on Facebook and Instagram to remain compliant with the law.
The report underlined Google’s spokesperson, Shay Purdy’s reservations. He said that the company is concerned that the core issue may not get solved through regulation and that legislative changes would be important.
The 1 September legislation outlined a provision for both Google and Meta wherein they could avoid arbitration by agreeing on a minimum allocation of 4 per cent of their annual revenue in Canada. In an act to compensate news outlets in exchange for featuring their news article links.
The term expected Google to pay approximately USD 126 million per year in an attempt to address concerns related to unbounded financial obligations.
However, Google Canada on Friday asserted that while the regulations are aimed at providing clarity about the application of the act, they inadvertently also introduced greater uncertainty which was to transform the mandatory negotiation specified in the act into a levy-based model.
The company added the action resulted in a hybrid model that combined the drawbacks of both approaches imposing the obligations of a levy without offering the corresponding certainty.
It underlined Google was asked to take the responsibilities, negotiation cost and fund disbursement while eliminating any flexibility in the actual arrangements.
Meanwhile, the company on Friday took a more decisive stance which was hinted at an imminent blockage, as the existing rules would compel it to engage in the mandatory negotiation while simultaneously applying for an exemption.
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