CRTC Launches Public Consultations Over Online News Act

A tablet with a generic news website on stack of newspapers. (Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock)

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has launched public consultations over the Online News Act, which requires social media platforms to pay news organizations if news content is shared through the platform.

The Act was introduced in June 2023, and the CRTC said it is looking for feedback on the regulatory framework, released on Dec. 15, 2023.

“The CRTC is consulting on how to set up the bargaining process and how to handle complaints about unfair treatment,” a government news release said.

The consultation process will end on April 12, CRTC said. However, it has indicated another public consultation process will be held later in 2024 over the code of conduct that will apply to negotiations between news outlets and social media platforms.

Comments collected during the current consultation will be made public, as will the identity of the individual, the government said.

“The personal information you will be asked to provide is required by the Commission to identify participants and manage this public process,” CRTC’s website said. “It will be posted on our website: to allow applicants to copy parties when submitting their replies; to allow parties to respond to each other; and to ensure that the process is fair and transparent for all participants.”

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The Online News Act (ONA) requires major tech companies to pay Canadian media outlets for news content linked on their platforms.

On Aug. 1, 2023, Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, began blocking Canadian news content on its platforms, calling ONA a “fundamentally flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work, the preferences of the people who use them, and the value we provide news publishers.”

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) saw website traffic drop in the third quarter of 2023, something the organization blames on Meta’s decision to block news.

A CBC financial report shows the English language website went from 20.7 million unique views each month in 2022 to about 16 million in 2023.

“Digital reach for the CBC is trending below target due to Facebook’s news withdrawal in Canada,” CBC said in its report, which was obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Google, the only other company large enough to be targeted by the Act, opted to negotiate a different agreement that sees the digital giant pay $100 million annually.

Of that money, $7 million is expected to go to CBC/Radio-Canada, and another $30 million will be reserved for other broadcasters. The rest of the funds will go to other news organizations, such as newspapers and digital publications.

Businesses need to have at least two full-time employees to be eligible.

Smaller outlets will get about $17,000 per journalist, an official with the Canadian Heritage Department said on Dec. 15 in a technical briefing for journalists.

The Canadian Press, Matthew Horwood, and Jennifer Cowan contributed to this report.