A federal bill that will require Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content that they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms has become law.
The Senate passed the bill Thursday in a final vote and was given royal assent amid a standoff between the Liberal government and Silicon Valley tech giants.
Ottawa has said the law creates a level playing field between online advertising giants and the shrinking news industry. And Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has promised to push back on what he describes as “threats” from Facebook and Google to remove journalism from their platforms.