Will Google face questions over blocking news access? MPs to debate in committee
Global News
Larger media companies have praised the online news bill, saying it will create a level playing field with Google and Facebook, which compete with them for advertising dollars.
Some members of Parliament want to see Google in the hot seat over the tech company’s move to temporarily block news access to some of its Canadian users.
The House of Commons heritage committee is meeting Tuesday and members are expected to discuss whether to summon leadership from Google to testify.
Last week Google confirmed to The Canadian Press that it was limiting news access on its search engine to less than four per cent of its Canadian users.
Google says it’s a short-lived test in response to the Liberal government’s proposed Online News Act, which it opposes.
The bill would require digital giants such as Google and Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to negotiate deals to compensate Canadian media companies for displaying or providing links to their news content.
The Liberal, New Democrat and Bloc Quebecois committee members who called for the meeting say Google is trying to intimidate the Parliamentary process in Canada by “threatening to censor news on its platform.”
“Intimidation of this sort has become commonplace as tech giants push back against global accountability,” the six MPs wrote in a letter to the committee’s chair.
Larger media companies have praised the online news bill, saying it will create a level playing field with Google and Facebook, which compete with them for advertising dollars.
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