Google is blocking some Canadians access to news, it confirmed Thursday, as part of a test in response to a law in the works that would require digital giants to pay for local journalism content.
The restricted access to news sites started earlier in the month and will run for five weeks, affecting four percent of Canadian users of its popular search engine, the company said.
Spokesman Shay Purdy told AFP that Google was "briefly testing potential product responses" to the Online News Act, which was introduced last April and is currently before the Senate.
"We run thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes to Search," he added.
The bill -- which Google and others including Facebook parent company Meta have criticized as overbroad -- is meant to help a news sector in Canada that Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has said "is in crisis."
More than 450 news outlets closed in Canada since 2008 as digital platforms took over the space, while billions of dollars in advertising revenues that once fed newsrooms across Canada now go mostly to two companies: Google and Meta.
The new law would require digital giants to make fair commercial deals with Canadian outlets for the news and information that is shared on their platforms, or face binding arbitration.
It builds on Australia's New Media Bargaining Code, which was a world first, aimed at making Google and Meta pay for news content on their platforms.
Australian regulators, too, had accused the companies who dominate online advertising, of draining cash away from traditional news organizations while using their content for free.
Big tech firms had fiercely opposed the Australian legislation initially, fearing it would threaten their business models, but with amendments it was easily passed by lawmakers.
Purdy said the Canadian law needs fixing and warned that "if unchanged, (it) could impact products Canadians use and rely on every day."
Rodriguez reacted in a Twitter message, saying: "It's disappointing to hear that Google is trying to block access to news sites."
"Canadians won't be intimidated," he added. "At the end of the day, all we're asking the tech giants to do is compensate journalists when they use their work."
Google has signed agreements with French newspapers to pay for their content, after the EU introduced in 2019 a law on "neighboring rights."
AFP also inked a five-year content agreement with Google at the end of 2021, as well as two commercial contracts.
AFP