Conservatives ran on similar media policy as Liberals, but now claim it's censorship
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Liberal legislation aimed at social media platforms is ushering in censorship, despite his party running on similar policy in the last federal election.
The Online News Act will require tech giants to enter into agreements that compensate Canadian news outlets for content shared or otherwise repurposed on their platforms.
Poilievre claimed the new law will make news disappear from the internet, and ban people from seeing news.
The Opposition leader made the remark after Meta announced it will permanently remove all news in Canada from its social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, in coming weeks in response to the law.
However, the Conservatives' 2021 campaign platform under then-leader Erin O'Toole proposed a similar policy, calling on tech giants to fairly compensate media for the content they create through an arbitration process.
Poilievre was not made available for an interview. His spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said in a statement that a Conservative government would repeal the Online News Act.
Poilievre falsely claimed people will not be able to see news on the internet under the new law, passed in June.
"You have a prime minister passing a law to make news articles disappear from the internet. Who would have ever imagined in Canada the federal government would pass laws banning people from effectively seeing news," Poilievre said to reporters on Tuesday.
News remains easily accessible on the internet in Canada regardless of Meta's business decision.
In addition, individuals, politicians, community groups and governments will still be able to post content on Facebook and Instagram because publishers will be the sole ones affected, Meta has said.
News posted on Facebook and Instagram by Canadian publishers will also be viewable on the internet by those who live outside Canada.
The tech giant has collaborated with a digital literacy expert on a guide to teach Canadians about other ways they can get news on the internet, such as going directly to publishers' websites, downloading mobile news apps and subscribing to news alerts.
The guide also recommends other ways people can view Canadian news: through newsletters, newspapers, local TV and radio, bookmarking web pages for later viewing, accessing news aggregators, listening to news podcasts and subscribing to various content feeds from websites.
When Australia introduced a similar law in 2021, Meta temporarily blocked news from Facebook. In that country Meta eventually entered into agreements with news publishers, and the minister never went through a designation process that would cause the law to specifically apply to Meta.
The Canadian government will not decide which companies are captured under the law. Instead, firms will be identified through a regulatory process of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, an arm's-length administrative branch.
It has become common for countries to adopt policies and legislation that impose more controls on digital giants who dominate online advertising revenue.
A bill in California that is similar to the Online News Act could soon become law, prompting similar threats from Meta that it will remove news from its platforms in that state.
European Union regulators have hit Google with antitrust charges, saying the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its lucrative digital ad business is by selling off parts of the tech giant's main money-maker.
The EU followed a similar move by the U.S., which wants to bust Google's alleged monopoly on the online ad ecosystem.
Executive vice-president of the European Commission for a Europe Fit For the Digital Age, Margrethe Vestager, recently praised Canada's Online News Act.
Vestager commended Ottawa's efforts to ensure access to a free, independent media "on fair terms."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2023.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
NEW Health data collected from Indigenous Peoples in Canada has a dark history. One Indigenous company is turning that around
Software company Mustimuhw Information, which develops medical records systems built on a foundation of Indigenous traditions and values, is allowing health providers to capture data informed by cultural practices.
Hezbollah handed out pagers hours before blasts, even after checks: Reuters
Lebanon's Hezbollah was still handing its members new Gold Apollo branded pagers hours before thousands blew up this week, two security sources said, indicating the group was confident the devices were safe despite an ongoing sweep of electronic kit to identify threats.
Cognitive decline reduced by MIND diet, especially for women and Black people, study finds
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
Federal firearm buyback program has cost $67M, still not collecting guns after 4 years
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
No, these viral purple apples don't exist in Saskatchewan
If something looks too good to be true, it might be. That's the message from Saskatchewan horticulturists after customers have come into their stores hoping to buy purple apple trees this month.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including machine-guns
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has lost 205 firearms since 2020, including more than 120 handguns and at least five fully automatic weapons like machine-guns.
Influencer couple denies leaving kids alone on cruise
For most people, dinner on a cruise ship is a time to relax. But when influencer couple Abby and Matt Howard decided to kick back with a dinner à deux, they ended up kicking up a storm.
Local Spotlight
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.
A daytrip to the backcountry turned into a frightening experience for a Vancouver couple this weekend.