Following the governments passage of a law requiring online platforms to pay news publishers in the nation, Google on Thursday stated that it will remove Canadian news material from its search, news, and discover products.Google stated that the recently passed Bill C-18-Online News Act in Canada remains unworkable.Google to remove news from search results in Canada over law on paying publishersRead @ANI Story | https://t.co/uvNPNoc1jQ#Google #Canada pic.twitter.com/J9M3AGTS06— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) June 30, 2023According to the experts, the move taken by Google, the most popular search engine worldwide will have devasting impact on the media houses in Canada, as most of third parties depend on Google to get the content into the hands of readers.Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs, Google & Alphabet, said in a blog, “We have now informed the Government that when the law takes effect, we, unfortunately, will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada and that C-18 will also make it untenable for us to continue offering our Google News Showcase product in Canada.”He further added, “Were disappointed it has come to this. We dont take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe its important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible.”According to the sources, Meta Platforms earlier, also announced that it will end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada after the countrys Parliament approved legislation designed to compel internet giants to pay publishers.“Today, we are confirming that news availability will be ended on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada prior to the Online News Act taking effect,” Meta said in a statement afterward.What is the reason behind the move taken by GoogleThe controversial C-18 legislation from the Canadian government was approved by Parliament last week, prompting the decision. Tech behemoths like Meta and Google have criticised the measure, saying its wrong to levy what essentially amounts to a tax on links. However, Google in its statement said that they support Canadian media.
