The Online News Act (), known commonly as Bill C-18, is a Canadian federal statute. Introduced in the 44th Canadian Parliament, passed by the Senate on June 15, 2023, and receiving royal assent on June 22, 2023, the act will implement a framework under which digital news intermediaries (including search engines and social networking services) that hold an asymmetric position must bargain with online news publishers to compensate them for the act of reproducing or facilitating access to their content via their platforms.
Purpose
The goal of the law is to enhance the sustainability of the Canadian digital news market by "establish[ing] a framework through which digital news intermediary operators and news businesses may enter into agreements respecting news content that is made available by digital news intermediaries." The bill and its provisions will be enforced under regulations that will be regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The exact regulatory policies will be determined by the CRTC, with public consultations to begin in late-2023, the bargaining code to be published in mid-2024, and enforcement to begin by late-2024 or early-2025.
The primary component of Bill C-18 is a provision that allows an eligible news business (acting alone or in a group) to initiate mandatory bargaining with a digital news intermediary—an online communications platform (such as a search engine or social media service, excluding platforms whose primary purpose is to allow users to communicate with each other privately) that reproduces news content in whole or in part, or otherwise facilitates access to it by any means—if it is determined that there is a "significant bargaining power imbalance" between the intermediary's operator and the news business (based on size, strategic advantages, and whether they hold a "prominent market position").
News businesses are eligible under the Act if they are either:
A "qualified Canadian journalism organization" under the Income Tax Act. A licensed community, campus, or Indigenous broadcaster. A publisher that: Is devoted primarily to "news content of public interest" and not a specific topic or industry. Employs at least two journalists in Canada, Is a member of a "recognized journalistic association" or otherwise has a code of journalistic ethics that follows principles of "fairness, independence and rigour in reporting news and handling sources". An Indigenous news outlet that publishes news content of general interest, and issues specific to Indigenous peoples in Canada.
The process involves three steps: bargaining, mediation, and "final offer" arbitration. An intermediary may request an exemption order from the CRTC if it certifies that they have entered into agreements with news businesses that meet requirements for fair compensation and other factors specified by Section 11(1).
Reception
Supporters of the bill argue that it would address an imbalance between dominant tech companies and Canadian publishers, by requiring them to provide fair compensation for the dissemination of news content via their platforms. The trade association News Media Canada stated that the bill would "restore fairness and ensure the sustainability of the Canadian news media ecosystem." The logic is that in the absence of the law, intermediaries leverage Canadian-produced news content without compensation due to their dominance, and thus hold an asymmetric bargaining position.
Writing for the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts, Ariel Katz—associate professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law—argued that the bill enables drastic measures under questionable assumptions, including new rights for news publishers that are absent in the Copyright Act, allowing collective bargaining (effectively media cartels) beyond what is allowed by the Status of the Artist Act, and providing large exemptions from the Competition Act. He argued that shielding media companies from competition, even the largest ones, will "sedate" these public watchdogs.