Canada has proposed legislation to force U.S. digital services into paying media conglomerates for facilitating access to their content online. Recently, Canada’s leadership has criticized industry efforts to test compliance with the new framework law.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President of Digital Trade Jonathan McHale:
“Supporting journalists and journalism is crucial in a democracy. Internet platforms play a vital role in helping journalism adapt to the digital marketplace – sending organizations valuable traffic and partnering with them on mutually beneficial commercial deals. However, it is no surprise that a legislative mandate to upend this ecosystem, mainly to subsidize a handful of large local media companies, would cause them pause: it does little to nothing to support journalists or improve the sustainability of journalism. Conditioning U.S. companies’ access to the Canadian market on ‘must-carry, must-pay’ obligations for these companies, forcing them to subsidize large and concentrated Canadian media conglomerates, is inconsistent with free trade among neighbors and the trade rules that bind the two nations.”
For more information, please see CCIA’s White Paper on this issue.