Big Tech is taking on government in light of Bill C-18, head of community radio speaks out

The bill will take effect in about 6 months time.

It’s called Bill C-18 or the Online News Act and it’s the reason you’re not seeing news posts on your facebook. Each time a news link appears in a google search, the bill would force google to compensate the companies but the amount of compensation is unknown. Meta, which is facebook, has started blocking news agencies as a result. Barry Rooke is the Executive Director of the National Community Radio Association. He says facebook is starting to push back against the government's decision. “Any organization that creates a news format, even campus and not-for-profit radio who are mandated to have at least 15 percent news, is mandated to be compensated for the use of the news,” he says. “Facebook and Instagram are essentially saying we don’t have the right to share that information and have pulled it from their platforms.” Rooke says it’s not about advertising but more about the question of who has the authority to set the  structures for the sector itself. “So this is Big Tech versus the  government and is fought in the media realms now, it’s happening around the world,” he says. “We saw it happen in Australia and the government put forward some recommendations and after a couple of days, Big Tech started using news formats again.” The bill will take effect in about 6 months time.