Google to remove Canadian news links from searches after bill passes

Google has announced that it will make good on its threat to remove news links from search results and its other products in Canada once a law that requires tech firms to negotiate deals to pay news publishers for their content goes into effect.

Google joins Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc in announcing an end to news access for Canadian users of their platforms after Bill C-18, or the Online News Act, was passed into law last week. The move is just the latest development in the years-long tussle between tech platforms and publishers around the world over whether and how to share advertising revenue from engagement with news articles.

The legislation came after complaints from Canada’s media industry, which wants tighter regulation of tech companies to prevent them from elbowing news businesses out of the online advertising market.

“We have now informed the government that when the law takes effect, we unfortunately will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada,” Google said in a blogpost.

“We don’t take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe it’s important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible,” it said.

Google has argued that the so-called “link tax” would “break” the web by putting a price on links rather than enabling companies to share links without incurring any costs. The company previously tested limiting news content on less than 4% of Canadian users to assess “potential product responses” at the start of the year.

The act outlines rules to force platforms such as Facebook and Google to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, previously said the companies were using strong-arm tactics to avoid paying for news. “The fact that these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians’ access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem and now they’re resorting to bullying tactics to try and get their way – it’s not going to work,” Trudeau told reporters earlier this month.

The step is similar to a groundbreaking law passed in Australia in 2021, in response to which Google and Meta also threatened to pull out. Though Meta briefly shut down access to news feeds after the bill passed, the companies ultimately struck deals with publishers after it was amended.

Parallel efforts to impose a “journalism usage fee” on tech platforms such as Meta and Google are under way in California. The bill, introduced by state assembly member Buffy Wicks, would provide what proponents describe as a “lifeline” for local news organizations by requiring tech firms to share portions of the advertising revenue it derives from sharing news articles with publishers.

Meta has similarly threatened to pull any news links from Facebook and Instagram if the legislation moves forward.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone tweeted that the bill would force the company to pay into a “slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers”.

The US technology companies have said the Canadian proposals are unsustainable for their businesses. Google has argued that Canada’s law is broader than those in Australia and Europe, saying it puts a price on news story links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that do not produce news.

The search engine giant had proposed that the bill be revised to make the displaying of news content, rather than links, as basis for payment and to specify that only businesses that produce news and adhere to journalistic standards are eligible.