UBC journalism professor critical of media legislation in wake of tech giant pushback | 24CA News
Tech giants Google and Meta are pushing again on federal laws limiting Canadian news content material on their platforms, however Alfred Hermida, a University of British Columbia (UBC) journalism professor, says Bill C-18 doesn’t equate with the wants of Canadians in getting dependable, correct and native news.
“It really is geared up to prop up the ailing commercial models we have in Canada,” mentioned Hermida.
The news of tech giants Meta and Google pulling their Canadian news content material has met with criticism, however the federal authorities says the invoice is one of the simplest ways to take care of an ailing news trade.
“Journalism is fundamental to our democracies across the world, and we’re seeing news deserts form and we have to take action,” mentioned Chris Bittle, Minister of Canadian Heritage.
He added that lots of of newsrooms have closed as a result of billions in promoting income they used to depend on has shifted to Google and Facebook, so the web news act ranges the taking part in discipline by placing the powers of huge tech in test.
But Hermida says the invoice was flawed from the beginning, and that the Canadian public finally lose out.
“The government wants to regulate the platforms, the news industry wants the platforms to bail them out, and the platforms are trying to resist regulation, and in the middle of that the Canadian news consumer, the person who needs reliable information is losing out,” mentioned Hermida.
While the federal government says it’s essential for nations to push unregulated firms to pay their fair proportion, Hermida says the potential unintended penalties could do extra hurt to the news trade than good.
– with information from Gates Guarin
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