Google to Stop Blocking News for Some Canadian Users Next Week, MPs Hear

Google Canada's Sabrina Geremia appears via videoconference as a witness at a Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 6, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Google executives appearing before a House of Commons committee on March 10 said the online search-engine giant would stop running tests next week that are currently blocking news content for some Canadian users.

Google said in late February that it had blocked news for some Canadians as part of a test it was running in response to the Liberal government’s pending Online News Act, or Bill C-18, which seeks to regulate digital news intermediaries like Google and Meta for the stated goal of increasing “fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace and contribute to its sustainability.”

The company said it was blocking visibility of some online news for around 4 percent of its Canadian users, which equals around 1.2 million Canadians in total.

Jason Kee, Google Canada’s public policy manager, told the Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on March 10 that the test is scheduled to end on March 16.

Google Canada Vice President Sabrina Geremia also appeared before the committee and said she believes Bill C-18 “sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the very foundations of the open web and the free flow of information.”

“It also incentivizes the creation of cheap, clickbait content over quality journalism,” she said.

Bill C-18, which is currently pending Senate approval, will require digital media giants like Google to negotiate deals that would provide compensation to Canadian media companies for republishing their content on their platforms.

Geremia also said the pending legislation would benefit legacy media more than local journalism.

‘Boundaries’

When questioned by MPs about the test blocking news content for some Canadians, Geremia didn’t directly answer, saying she “disagreed with the premise” that Google blocked any news.

“News is available in Canada,” she said, adding, “This is a product test.”

A number of MPs on the committee, including its chair, voiced concerns that Geremia was evading certain questions.

Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner said the witnesses were not giving “fulsome answers” and moved that the committee place both Geremia and Kee under oath. Her motion passed unanimously.

Geremia earlier told the committee that Google runs about 11,500 tests each year to “assess potential changes” to its search engine, but added that only a small number of the changes proposed in the tests end up launching.

Conservative MP and committee vice-chair Kevin Waugh requested that the witnesses provide the committee with a list of all the product tests that Google has run in Canada since Jan. 1.

“You’ve over-exceeded your boundaries, and I think Canadians would also today say that Google has over-exceeded their boundaries,” Waugh said.

Andrew Chen and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.