Say NO to Bill C-18!
Unsplash image by AbsolutVision
By Ramneet at OpenMedia
Have you seen this? Over 100 independent news outlets across the country just joined forces to demand that the government fix the Online News Act.
They’re echoing many of our key concerns; Bill C-18 does not save the news industry, it will further concentrate it. It’s driven by a secretive process promoting backdoor deals between Big Tech and news organizations. It diminishes freedom of the press and makes news organizations bound to Big Tech and the government. This is completely undemocratic, and Canadians should demand better. Will you email your MP to speak on behalf of Canadians and stop Bill C-18?
Bill C-18 is full of red flags; it gives the government the power to dictate which news organizations qualify as “real news,” platforms the power to decide how news outlets spend the funds, and gives the public NO transparency on who gets funded or how much they receive. This Bill would completely compromise freedom of the press, email your MP and demand they drop Bill C-11 and design a new bill that works for a strong, independent press in Canada!
For more information, check out this previous email below:
Would you believe the government is currently considering a bill that puts the news industry at the beck and call of Cabinet Ministers AND Big Tech?
Well, that’s exactly what the Online News Act (Bill C-18) would do. Bill C-18 claims to be about supporting Canada’s dying news industry, using funding from online platforms. It bungles this job so badly that it fundamentally undermines the freedom of the press, giving the government the power to secretly dictate who qualifies as “real news” and platforms broad scope to decide how new organizations should spend their money.
Under Bill C-18, an entirely secret government process controlled by Cabinet decides who is a ‘qualified’ news organization, and who isn’t. There’s zero public transparency into who qualifies, how much funding they receive, and how any of these decisions are made.1,2 It’s all driven by secret deals with Big Tech platforms, under secret review by government appointees. It’s undemocratic for any agency to have this much secret power over the news sector. Do YOU think every outlet will be willing to bite the hand that feeds them? Email your MP and urge them to vote NO on Bill C-18!
C-18 would require platforms to pay up to news organizations in some unclear proportion to how much we share news links on their service. The likely consequences are obvious: tweaks to their service to discourage sharing of quality news, while permitting misinformation and yellow news to flourish.3,4
Badly needed financial support for news can’t come through a system that fundamentally compromises the freedom and independence of the press or the reach of quality journalism. Will you join us in asking your MP to SAY NO to Bill C-18?
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