Google will stop blocking news links next week following a five-week test that limited access to news for some Canadian users, the company confirmed Friday.
The test began Feb. 9 and affected users were prevented from seeing news links on Google’s search engine and Discover panel on Android phones.
The company has said all types of news were affected by the test, including content created by Canadian broadcasters and newspapers.
The test will end on March 16.
Google said it was meant to assess the impacts of a potential response to Bill C-18, the Liberal government’s controversial Online News Act.
“I want to underline that these are just tests. No decisions have been made about product changes. We’re simply doing our due diligence in the most responsible way possible,” said Jason Kee, public policy manager for Google.
Kee attended the House of Commons heritage committee meeting on Friday virtually alongside the head of Google Canada, Sabrina Geremia. Company executives were summoned to the meeting by MPs who are studying Google’s activities in reaction to the Online News Act.
They were also asked to provide internal documents related to its decision to block news links — like internal emails, texts and other messages — but that has not yet happened. Geremia said Google is working “collaboratively” with the committee to provide internal documents.
In her opening speech to the committee, Geremia said Bill C-18, which would put a price on free links to web pages that produce news, sets a dangerous precedent that threatens the open web and free flow of information.
She said the Online News Act is no longer about supporting local journalism and will benefit legacy media and broadcasters the most, while incentivizing clickbait content over quality journalism.
“C-18 is intended to encourage voluntary agreements with news publishers,” Geremia said.
“But the exemption and eligibility criteria have shifted so significantly that it would require subsidies to media companies even if they don’t produce news, are not online, and we don’t link to their content.”
Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu raised a similar concern, saying the bill could cause misinformation and clickbait to be more prominent on the web.
Google has said it would rather pay Canadian media outlets through a monetary fund than be regulated by the government.
Large Canadian media companies and the federal Liberal government have argued the proposed law would level the playing field for news outlets that compete with tech giants for advertising dollars.
But Google said it is already a major financial supporter of journalism, because the traffic it sends to news sites helps publishers increase their readership and earn money from page views, and because Google licenses news from more than 150 publications across Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.
KITCHENER, Ont. – Prosecutors are arguing a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year should face a lengthy sentence because of the attack’s lasting impact on campus safety and security.
Federal prosecutor Althea Francis says a sentence in the upper range is appropriate not only because Geovanny Villalba-Aleman wanted to send a message about his views but also because he sought to make those with different beliefs feel unsafe.
The Crown has said it is seeking a sentence of 16 years for Villalba-Aleman, who pleaded guilty to four charges in the June 2023 campus attack.
The sentencing hearing for Villalba-Aleman began Monday and is expected to continue all week.
Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that Villalba-Aleman’s statement to police, and a manifesto that was found on his phone, show his actions were motivated by ideology and meant to intimidate a segment of the population.
Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm.
A video of his statement to police was shown in court earlier in the sentencing hearing.
In the video, Villalba-Aleman told police he felt colleges and universities were imposing ideology and restricting academic freedom, and he wanted the attack to serve as a “wake-up call.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada cut its key policy interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday to bring it to 3.75 per cent. Here’s what people are saying about the decision:
“High inflation and interest rates have been a heavy burden for Canadians. With inflation now back to target and interest rates continuing to come down, families, businesses and communities should feel some relief.” — Tiff Macklem, Bank of Canada governor.
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“Activity in Canada’s housing market has been sluggish in many regions due to higher borrowing costs, but today’s more aggressive cut to lending rates could cause the tide to turn quickly. For those with variable rate mortgages – who will benefit from the rate drop immediately – or those with fast-approaching loan renewals, today’s announcement is welcome news indeed.” — Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage.
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“This won’t be the end of rate cuts. Even with the succession of policy cuts since June, rates are still way too high given the state of the economy. To bring rates into better balance, we have another 150 bps in cuts pencilled in through 2025. So while the pace of cuts going forward is now highly uncertain, the direction for rates is firmly downwards.” — James Orlando, director and senior economist at TD Bank.
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“The size of the December rate cut will depend on upcoming job and inflation data, but a 25 basis point cut remains our baseline.” — Tu Nguyen, economist with assurance, tax and consultancy firm RSM Canada.
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“Today’s outsized rate cut is mostly a response to the heavy-duty decline in headline inflation in the past few months. However, the underlying forecast and the Bank’s mild tone suggest that the future default moves will be 25 bp steps, unless growth and/or inflation surprise again to the downside.” — Douglas Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
