Online News Act

This enactment regulates digital news intermediaries to enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news marketplace and contribute to its sustainability. It establishes a framework through which digital news intermediary operators and news businesses may enter into agreements respecting news content that is made available by digital news intermediaries. The framework takes into account principles of freedom of expression and journalistic independence. The enactment, among other things, (a) applies in respect of a digital news intermediary if, having regard to specific factors, there is a significant bargaining power imbalance between its operator and news businesses; (b) authorizes the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting those factors; (c) specifies that the enactment does not apply in respect of “broadcasting” by digital news intermediaries that are “broadcasting undertakings” as those terms are defined in the Broadcasting Act or in respect of telecommunications service providers as defined in the Telecommunications Act; (d) requires the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (the “Commission”) to maintain a list of digital news intermediaries in respect of which the enactment applies; (e) requires the Commission to exempt a digital news intermediary from the application of the enactment if its operator has entered into agreements with news businesses and the Commission is of the opinion that the agreements satisfy certain criteria; (f) authorizes the Governor in Council to make regulations respecting how the Commission is to interpret those criteria and setting out additional conditions with respect to the eligibility of a digital news intermediary for an exemption; (g) establishes a bargaining process in respect of matters related to the making available of certain news content by digital news intermediaries; (h) establishes eligibility criteria and a designation process for news businesses that wish to participate in the bargaining process; (i) requires the Commission to establish a code of conduct respecting bargaining in relation to news content; (j) prohibits digital news intermediary operators from acting, in relation to certain news content, in ways that discriminate unjustly, that give undue or unreasonable preference or that subject certain news businesses to an undue or unreasonable disadvantage; (k) allows certain news businesses to make complaints to the Commission in relation to that prohibition; (l) authorizes the Commission to require the provision of information for the purpose of exercising its powers and performing its duties and functions under the enactment; (m) establishes a framework respecting the provision of information to the responsible Minister, the Chief Statistician of Canada and the Commissioner of Competition, while permitting an individual or entity to designate certain information that they submit to the Commission as confidential; (n) authorizes the Commission to impose, for contraventions of the enactment, administrative monetary penalties on certain individuals and entities and conditions on the participation of news businesses in the bargaining process; (o) establishes a mechanism for the recovery, from digital news intermediary operators, of certain costs related to the administration of the enactment; and (p) requires the Commission to have an independent auditor prepare a report annually in respect of the impact of the enactment on the Canadian digital news marketplace. Finally, the enactment makes related amendments to other Acts.