Ottawa is holding its ground on the Online News Act, even as CTV National News reports a new proposal has emerged from Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.
What's at stake
The Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, became law in Canada in 2023 and requires large digital platforms to compensate Canadian news publishers when their content is shared or made available on those platforms. The legislation was designed to help offset the steep decline in advertising revenue that has hit newsrooms across the country, from small community outlets to major broadcasters.
Meta's response at the time was to block news content from being viewed or shared on Facebook and Instagram for Canadian users, a move that has remained in effect ever since. That standoff has made it harder for many Canadians to find and share news through the platforms they use most, and it has been a persistent sticking point between Ottawa and Silicon Valley ever since the law took effect.
An Ottawa story at its core
While the fight plays out on tech platforms used nationwide, this is fundamentally a story about the nation's capital. The decisions shaping the Online News Act are made in Ottawa, where federal lawmakers, regulators, and officials continue to negotiate the terms of how — and whether — tech giants compensate Canadian journalism. Any shift in Meta's approach would ripple through newsrooms in Ottawa and beyond, affecting how residents access local news coverage, including reporting on their own city.
Ottawa-based outlets and reporters covering federal affairs have a direct stake in how this dispute resolves, since the capital is home to much of the political press corps tracking the legislation's rollout and enforcement.
Where things stand
According to CTV News, the federal government is maintaining its stance on the Online News Act despite reports that Meta may be putting forward a new proposal aimed at addressing the dispute. Details of what that proposal might include have not been fully confirmed, but its emergence signals the issue is still very much active behind the scenes, even years after the law first took effect and Meta's news block began.
For now, the government's message is one of firmness — a signal that Ottawa isn't backing down on the core principle that tech platforms should pay for the news content they help distribute, regardless of what new terms might be floated by the companies involved.
Source: CTV News
