A New Report Reveals the Real-World Fallout of Bill C-18 and the Struggle to Regulate Big Tech
As Canadians head to the polls in a pivotal federal election, access to reliable news has never been more important—or more precarious. Millions of Canadians can no longer find news on the platforms they once relied on. Meta’s ongoing news ban, Elon Musk’s overhaul of X, and the growing dominance of TikTok have all reshaped the flow of information in Canada—altering political discourse and limiting public access to trusted journalism. In this rapidly shifting landscape, a new report from the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy offers the first full account of Bill C-18—the Online News Act, which aimed to ensure that platforms compensated news businesses fairly—and what it tells us about the global effort to hold Big Tech accountable.
Canada’s News Bargaining Codes: An Unabridged Account on C-18 provides the first comprehensive analysis of the legislation, its origins, outcomes, and far-reaching implications. Based on interviews with journalists, policymakers, and global experts, the report traces how tech giants responded to the law—and how those responses are now shaping Canada’s media ecosystem.
Key insights:
Meta’s exit dealt a devastating blow to many publishers, and the aftermath of C-18 garnered mixed responses from the news publishing community: Many small publishers and language minority publishers were deeply affected by Meta’s news ban, while many legacy publishers, though applauding the deal, also mourned losing their exclusive content deals with the platforms.
Taking a pre-emptive rather than defensive stance toward Big Tech narratives around regulation may lend credibility to news bargaining legislation: Platforms were quite effective in swaying public opinion in Canada, mostly by calling the bill a “link tax” that would “break the internet”—reinforcing a well-worn strategy to position government regulation as akin to censorship.
Future legislation must account for the challenge of generative AI: The battlefront for compensation will increasingly move from platforms to AI chatbots, as AI companies scramble for high-quality content to train their models.
International solidarity in enforcing bargaining codes or regulating platforms will strengthen our efforts: Turning off news in Canada alone may have proved a worthwhile risk for Meta, however it is unlikely that both Google and Meta would have chosen to turn off news globally, at the risk of reputational decline.
Bargaining codes constitute only one part of a much larger global policy effort needed to stem the crisis in journalism: Potential pathways could include cracking down on monopolistic practices in advertising, addressing surveillance advertising, and supporting journalism through government advertising dollars, funding public media, and encouraging publishers to explore new, innovative news models.
“Canada’s experience with Bill C-18 shows how hard it is to regulate Big Tech — even when there is a clear public interest and a law in place. The future of journalism cannot be left to the whims of platforms and the surveillance advertising industry. We need global cooperation, coordinated policy efforts, a joint response to Big Tech’s public messaging efforts, as well as long-term investment in public interest and local news. And this needs to be a priority for the next government.”
- Sophia Crabbe-Field, Principal Investigator and Lead Author“The Online News Act has had a profound impact on Canada’s news ecosystem. On the one hand it has incentivised a reliable, accountable and transparently distributed $100 million per year from Google to publishers. On the other, Meta’s response to the Act was to block access to journalism in Canada, leading to the removal of 11 million views of journalism a day in Canada. This report shed critical light on the process that led to this transformation.”
-Taylor Owen, Director of the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy
The report also outlines future challenges, including the rise of generative AI and the risks of exclusive content licensing deals between tech companies and publishers. It calls for stronger protections for small and minority outlets, increased international cooperation on platform regulation, and renewed investment in public and local media. As policymakers in Canada and abroad assess their next steps, the report offers a clear takeaway: public interest journalism remains essential to democratic life—and safeguarding it will require more than legislation alone.
The full report is available here.
Media Contact:
Isabelle Corriveau
Senior Manager, Public Outreach and Communications, Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy
isabelle.corriveau2@mcgill.ca
