Google will continue to host Canadian news content

Listen to the radio story here:

Google has struck a deal with the federal government. And Canadian news content will not be blocked in google searches as a result. 

The Canadian government in the spring passed the Online News Act, Bill C-18. The intent of which is to try and support the Canadian media industry, by getting tech giants to pay news organizations for hosting their content. The idea being that these companies benefit from ad revenue from the news content.

The law applies tech giants that are worth more than a billion dollars a year. So far that means Meta and Google. Meta is Facebook and Instagram.

Meta refused to pay for ad revenue it gains from hosting news content. It blocked Canadians from seeing news content on its sites. And it blocked media organizations from posting to their accounts.

That’s why if you go to Stoke FM’s instagram account, you’ll notice all our posts are blocked. Same with our Facebook. That’s why we started sending out our newsletter every two weeks—as a way to distribute local news and events. Sign up for the newsletter on our website.

Google has agreed to pay to host the news content that comes up in searches. They’ll compensate companies $100 million for their content. It’s unclear how this money will be distributed.

Stoke FM is a member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association. Barry Rooke is the executive director. “This is very good news,” he said. Click the audio file at the top of the story to hear more from Rooke.

meagan@stokefm.com