Protect your news – amend Bill C-18

The Online News Act, Bill C-18, is headed to Canada’s Senate— and without major cleanup, it could permanently compromise the independence and diversity of Canadian news. 
But there’s still time to fix C-18 through amendments to the bill. If enough of us speak out, Senators will take action and fix this fundamentally flawed bill. Sign our petition right now to demand that the Senate fix Bill C-18 to support diverse and independent news!

To: Senate of Canada

Canadians need independent, diverse and locally produced news. Please review and amend Bill C-18 to ensure it is administered transparently and does not compromise the freedom or diversity of news reporting in Canada.

 

This campaign is hosted by OpenMedia. We will protect your privacy, and keep you informed about this campaign and others. Find OpenMedia's privacy policy here.

Quality news matters to Canadians; it helps us make informed decisions and hold our leaders and companies accountable.1 A healthy mix of diverse outlets across the political spectrum, local outlets, community papers, and international news is critical to staying up to date on the world and making democracy work.

But is the Online News Act currently up to the task? No. Here’s a few areas it gets the balance wrong: 

Who benefits? Right now, most of the funding goes straight into the pockets of large broadcast media like Corus, Rogers and the CBC. Newspapers? Minority players. Local news that’s already disappeared? Zero help. Startup outlets? Not included. Effective news support should be concentrated on where news is fast disappearing, not on broadcast outlets that don’t need the help.2,3

What about press independence? As written, Bill C-18 hands enormous power to Big Tech and to the CRTC to secretly shape the type of news that gets made in Canada. News organizations enter into secret deals with platforms to get funding; there's no public reporting on who receives funds, how much they’re receiving, or why some groups wind up approved while others are rejected.4 That’s not good enough. Transparency about who’s funding the news and how they reached their deal is vital for the public to maintain trust in the news industry.5 Any legislation must ensure that eligibility decisions are made publicly, transparently, and without government or platform pressure. 

The Senate is our second shot at fixing Bill C-18 and keeping our news free, independent, and diverse. Sign our petition to ensure the next version of C-18 supports the news YOU want and need!

Sources

  1. Sue Gardner: Bill C-18 is Bad for Journalism and Bad for Canada - McGill
  2. Government introduces a bill to ensure fair compensation for news media and the sustainability of local news - Government of Canada
  3. The Online News Act: A threat to Canadian News? - OpenMedia
  4. See 3 
  5. Canada’s Online News Act needs to be transparent and equitable - The Global Mail

Press: Rosa Addario | Phone: +1 (888) 441-2640 ext. 0  | [email protected]