Following the example of Australia, the Canadian authorities plan to adopt a bill that would force Facebook to pay the media for news content that users post on the social network. Reuters reports about it
Recall that Facebook had previously blocked Australian news content on the social network because of a proposed bill that would require paying royalties to media outlets in Australia for news links.
Canadian Heritage Minister Stephen Gilbo, who is responsible for drafting a similar bill, condemned Facebook’s action and stressed that it would not stop Ottawa.
“Canada is at the forefront of this battle … we’re really in the first group of countries around the world that are doing this”, – Gilbo said.
The minister said Canada could use the Australian model of the bill, which calls for Facebook and Google to cut deals to pay for news channels. A French version is also being considered: the country would require major technology platforms to negotiate with publishers who get paid for the use of their news content.
“I suspect we will soon have five, 10, 15 countries adopting similar rules. Is Facebook going to cut ties with Germany, with France?”, – Gilbo pointed out.