Bill C-18, Canada’s Online News Act, passed Third Reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday afternoon.
The bill will now be reviewed by the Senate in the new year. The Online News Act is designed to require tech giants, such as Facebook and Google, to compensate news organizations for the use of journalistic content.
As reported by the Canadian Press, the heritage committee returned the bill to the House with 18 amendments to add clarity about eligibility requirements, clear timelines on negotiation and transparency. It also created explicit protections for Indigenous-led news organizations.
An updated version of the Bill, including the amendments adopted at Committee, is available here.
Shortly after passing in the House, Meta threatened, once again, to pull news from Facebook in Canada.
