Caps placed on private broadcasters’ funding for Online News Act, CBC reports regulations.
According to the final regulations for the Online News Act, private broadcasters will have limited funding under the government’s $100 million deal with Google, with the CBC receiving an even lower cap.
Released on Dec. 15, the regulations indicate that broadcasters will receive a maximum of $30 million from the fund, while CBC/Radio-Canada will not receive more than $7 million. The remaining funds are designated for other qualifying news outlets, such as newspapers and digital platforms.
Last month, Google agreed to contribute $100 million per year, adjusted for inflation, to Canadian news publishers. This deal, which saw the Liberal government accommodating the tech giant’s demands after it threatened to remove news links from its search engine, resulted in Google being exempt from the legislation that requires tech companies to enter into compensation agreements with news publishers for linking to their content if it generates revenue for those digital giants.
Instead, Google will participate in a single collective bargaining group, serving as a media fund.
A Google spokesperson stated that the company believes the law is “fundamentally flawed,” but is pleased it was able to find “a viable path to exemption in the final regulations.”