Google Will Stop Blocking News For Canadian Users On March 16

Canadian lawmaker Martin Shields has several media owners in Canada. (photo: Twitter @MartinbowRiver)

JAKARTA - Alphabet Inc's Google will stop blocking news articles from search results for some Canadian users on March 16, a company executive told a Canadian parliamentary panel investigating the tech company on Friday, March 10.

Last month, Google began testing news sensor restrictions in a potential response to Canadian government laws aimed at forcing online platforms to pay publishers in Canada for news content displayed.

Google claims that these tests are like thousands of other product testing that companies usually do on a regular basis.

Testing, according to the company, affected less than 4% of Canadian users starting on February 9 and is scheduled to last for five weeks.

Speaking ahead of the parliamentary committee investigating the test, Google's public policy manager, Jason Kee, confirmed that the test would end next week.

"I want to emphasize that this is just a test. No decisions have been made about product changes," Kee said, as quoted by Reuters, March 10.

Last month, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was a "big mistake" for Google to block news content in response to the "Online News Act", a government law that creates rules for platforms like Meta's Facebook and Google to negotiate and pay news publishers commercially.

"It really surprised me that Google has decided that it prefers to prevent Canadians from accessing news rather than paying journalists for their jobs," he said at the time.

In the panel, questions arise about local journalistic outlets, such as 13-14 local weekly newspapers owned by Canadian lawmaker Martin Shields in his constituency.

"Blocking is something that, in my opinion, disturbs local communities, ordinary people. Unintentional consequences of this action, in my opinion, are not a way to negotiate and I think it is a mistake from your side," Shields told Sabrina Geremia, head of Google Canada.

Geremia says Google is a news contributor in Canada, earning 3.6 billion free visits from Canadians who visit links to news sites, and have licensing agreements with more than 150 publishers from across Canada.

Facebook has also expressed concern about the law and warned that it may be forced to block sharing news on their platform.

Canada's news media industry has asked governments to better regulate technology companies so that the industry can cover the financial losses it has suffered over the years as tech giants continue to acquire a larger share of the advertising market.

The Ottawa proposal is similar to a groundbreaking law passed by Australia in 2021, which also sparked threats from Google and Facebook to limit their services. The two finally reached an agreement with Australian media firms after a series of amendments to the law were offered.