Google Limiting Canadian News to Some Residents Amid Preparation of Bill C-18

Google is reportedly carrying out a test that has made it so that some Canadians are unable to see Canadian news. The Canadian government has called it “bullying” as this test comes amid the preparation to pass Bill C-18 which would require Google to compensate media companies for showing their news on its search page.

During City News’ The Big Story podcast with Mickey Djuric, a reporter with the Canadian Press, it was revealed that Google was limiting access to Canadian News to some Canadians. When the reporter reached out to Google, it responded by saying it was carrying out a test. According to the reporter, some Canadian users are unable to see any Canadian news on their searches and mobile phones.

Djuric shared that Google is limiting Canadian news to some Canadians for five weeks but has not confirmed when it started. She reached out to Google and it confirmed that the search giant was in fact limited news to some users. As of now, it is unclear when the test will end.

This move by Google comes amid the Canadian government’s preparation to pass Bill C-18 which would require Google to compensate media companies for showing their content. According to the reporter, this bill could bring potentially $330 million annually to Canadian media companies. On the other hand, if the bill passes, Google could block all Canadians from finding their news on Google.

Djuric added, “The summon papers have been served to the [Google] CEO … but last I heard, Google has not responded to the government,” she said, “it might be some political theatre in the days ahead.” She also said that Google does not want to be regulated by the Canadian government and believes this move will not improve journalism, contrary to what the government believes.

Vineet Washington