California has just passed a profit-sharing law with digital platform media, although the two best known, Meta (Facebook) and Google (Alphabet), are headquartered there.
Their lobbying didn’t stop the California State Assembly from passing legislation similar to Canada’s Bill C-18 on June 1.
The California Journalism Preservation Act was supported by a large bipartisan majority of 55 to 6 votes.
“Republicans and Democrats support it, which is rare, even in a state like California,” comments professor of journalism at the University of Quebec in Montreal Jean-Hugues Roy.
Australia had paved the way with a similar law adopted in February 2021, after Facebook had also tried to influence the will of parliamentarians.
Like the Australian law, the new Californian law and the Canadian bill aim to redistribute to digital media part of the profits that social platforms make by relaying their content.
“The overall goals are the same, but the path to achieving those goals is a bit different,” observes Jean-Hugues Roy. He scoured the California law to compare it to the Canadian bill, which is expected to pass third reading this week, aiming for passage before Parliament’s summer adjournment.
California law states that a digital platform cannot retaliate against an “eligible digital journalism provider” who has asserted its rights, such as refusing to index that provider’s content.
The Canadian bill provides for similar measures, notes Jean-Hugues Roy. “Once C-18 becomes law, Facebook could no longer retaliate and penalize the media by removing content. »
But the danger comes from elsewhere.
The journalism professor fears that the digital giants will find a crack in the Canadian and American walls.
“Bill C-18 applies to digital news intermediaries. Meta, in severing information from Canadian media, is saying: we are no longer digital news intermediaries because we no longer have news on our platform. Bill C-18 will therefore no longer apply to us. »
He sees the risk that quality information will disappear from social platforms, leaving all the room for misinformation, disinformation, “[to] kittens and [to] religious content”.
California law requires the “qualifying digital journalism provider” to spend at least 70% of the funds it receives for the benefit of its journalists and support staff – a requirement absent from the Canadian bill.
“So 70% of the funds received must be devoted to information,” comments Jean-Hugues Roy. It’s not a lot. Will the remaining 30% go into shareholders’ pockets? »
According to California law, media recipients of funds must report on their use.
“I find it really interesting,” says the professor. How much money did they receive? From whom? What did they do with it? It is a transparency that we do not have in Canada with Bill C-18, and that I find important. »
California law does not name Meta or Alphabet, but it does list several criteria that make a digital platform subject to it.
One of those: the platform has at least 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.
“Would that apply to TikTok or LinkedIn? asks Jean-Hugues Roy. They seem to cast a wider net than Bill C-18. Meta and Alphabet are not mentioned in the bill, but communications from the Department of Heritage have always implied that this would only apply to these two companies. »
However, Canadian law must be broad and far-reaching. No less than 24 Quebec media have accounts on TikTok, he points out.
“It takes a perennial bill. Facebook may not be forever. It has to be adaptable to other platforms. »
The UQAM professor fears, however, that the broad criteria of American law could cause a share of the revenues distributed by the major platforms to fall into the pocket of far-right sites like Breitbart News Network, “because they have journalists in quotation marks, which speak of public affairs”.
On the other hand, the California law provides a safeguard that is absent from the Australian and Canadian laws.
“It ensures that the media that benefit from its mechanism adhere to ethical criteria, to criteria of journalistic professionalism,” he said.
Since its adoption in February 2021, Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code has ensured the transfer of more than 200 million Australian dollars per year (approximately 180 million CAD) to the country’s media.
The United Kingdom, Brazil, Indonesia, New Zealand, South Africa and Switzerland, among others, are considering similar laws.
Although it remains the most consulted social media, the proportion of Canadians who consult Facebook for information purposes fell from 40% in 2022 to 29% in 2023. The proportion of Canadians who do not consult any social media for to inform increased from 26% to 36%.
