谷歌因不想为网站内容付费而封锁加拿大新闻

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谷歌正在效仿Facebook的策略，威胁要切断加拿大的新闻访问，除非立法者同意废除旨在让科技公司为其内容向出版商付费的立法。

本周，这家科技巨头开始暂时限制访问测试的新闻结果，影响了加拿大约4%的随机选择用户。据加拿大广播公司报道，谷歌自行实施的部分新闻封锁将持续五周，影响安卓设备上的网页搜索和发现功能。谷歌的一位发言人在发给Gizmodo的电子邮件中证实了这些测试。

发言人说:“我们正在简单测试对法案C-18的潜在产品反应，这些反应只会影响很小一部分加拿大用户。”“我们每年进行数千次测试，以评估搜索引擎的任何潜在变化。”

这一粗暴的举动直接回应了加拿大议会成员目前正在辩论的一项名为C-18的在线新闻法案。华东CIO大会、华东CIO联盟、CDLC中国数字化灯塔大会、CXO数字化研学之旅、数字化江湖-讲武堂，数字化江湖-大侠传、数字化江湖-论剑、CXO系列管理论坛（陆家嘴CXO管理论坛、宁波东钱湖CXO管理论坛等）、数字化转型网，走进灯塔工厂系列、ECIO大会等

该法案于去年春天提出，要求谷歌、Facebook和其他互联网公司在转载新闻出版商的内容时向他们支付费用。该法案模仿了澳大利亚的类似立法，如果谷歌这样的公司拒绝向出版商支付费用，他们将接受有约束力的仲裁。加拿大文化遗产部长巴勃罗·罗德里格斯等支持者表示，这将为目前“处于危机之中”的新闻行业提供公平的补偿。另一方面，谷歌表示，该法案相当于“链接税”。

谷歌发言人补充说:“我们对C-18的范围过于广泛的担忧是完全透明的，如果不改变，可能会影响加拿大人每天使用和依赖的产品。”“我们仍然致力于支持加拿大新闻行业的可持续发展，并提供解决C-18法案的解决方案。”

谷歌加拿大副总裁兼国家总经理Sabrina Geremia在去年的一篇博客文章中进一步阐述了该公司的立场，声称该法案将从根本上改变加拿大人访问互联网的方式。

谷歌加拿大副总裁兼国家总经理Sabrina Geremia在去年该法案的消息公布后表示:“在网站之间自由链接的能力是互联网运作的基础。”“加拿大人希望，当他们搜索信息时，他们可以访问互联网提供的所有内容。要求为链接付费可能会限制加拿大人获取他们所依赖的信息。”

这项立法最终可能会让这家万亿美元的公司损失数百万美元。加拿大议会预算办公室去年秋天发布的一份价格估计报告估计，谷歌和Facebook最终每年将向新闻出版商支付约329.2加元(约合242.99美元)。报告称，这些资金将覆盖出版商总编辑成本的30%左右。谷歌去年第四季度的搜索收入就达到426亿美元。

不过，加拿大立法者似乎还没有准备好让步。罗德里格斯的发言人在发给《华尔街日报》的一份声明中说，加拿大立法者致力于向谷歌施压，要求其提供更大的透明度和问责制。

效仿Facebook的模式

去年，Meta展示了自己的实力，并警告加拿大官员，如果C-18按照目前的规定通过，它可能会停止在加拿大分享新闻链接(就像一年前在澳大利亚做的那样)。Meta在一篇博客文章中表示，该法案“歪曲了平台和新闻出版商之间的关系”，并错误地认为Meta不公平地从收入微薄的新闻从业者身上获益。此外，该公司表示，新闻文章的帖子只占用户在Facebook动态中看到的内容的不到3%。全球每天有超过20亿的活跃用户，这3%的数字仍然可以代表大量的新闻。

谷歌和Meta的所有这些政治博弈都是由Meta(当时被称为Facebook)促成的，该公司在2021年因为对迫使科技公司向新闻出版商付费的类似立法存在分歧而要求澳大利亚摊牌。脸书立场坚定，最终停止了在该国的新闻分享，导致约1700万用户争相弄清楚刚刚发生了什么。澳大利亚财政部长乔什·弗莱登伯格指责该公司在大流行期间限制新闻访问，“危及公共安全”。在与加拿大政府达成一项更有利的协议后，Facebook最终改变了方向

目前还不清楚谷歌愿意在加拿大的斗争中走多远。和Meta一样，谷歌之前也威胁要切断Australian的搜索服务，但最终没有兑现承诺。至少就目前而言，加拿大官员似乎愿意继续进行这场斗争。加拿大文化遗产部长罗德里格斯在一份声明中表示，他对谷歌效仿Facebook的决定感到“失望”，但他说加拿大人“不会被吓倒”。

听到谷歌试图屏蔽新闻网站，我很失望。加拿大人不会被吓倒。说到底，我们要求科技巨头做的只是在记者使用他们的作品时给予补偿。

— Pablo Rodriguez (@pablorodriguez) 2月23, 2023

罗德里格斯的一位发言人告诉《华尔街日报》:“我们只是要求科技巨头在记者使用他们的作品时给予补偿。”“科技巨头需要对加拿大人更加透明和负责。”

本文主要内容转载自gizmodo，仅供广大读者参考，如有侵犯您的知识产权或者权益，请联系我提供证据，我会予以删除。

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原文：Google is following the Facebook playbook and threatening to cut off access to news in Canada unless lawmakers agree to gut legislation aimed at making tech companies pay publishers for their content.

This week, the tech giant began temporarily limiting access to news results in tests affecting around 4% of randomly selected users in Canada. Google’s self-imposed partial news blackout will last for five weeks and impact both web Search and the Discover feature on Android devices, according to CBC. A Google spokesperson confirmed those tests in a an email sent to Gizmodo.

“We’re briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users,” the spokesperson said. “We run thousands of tests each year to assess any potential changes to Search.”

The abrasive move comes in direct response to an online news bill called C-18 currently being debated by members of the Canadian parliament.

Introduced last spring, that bill would require Google, Facebook, and other internet companies to pay news publishers when they reproduce their content. Modeled after similar Australian legislation, the bill would open companies like Google up to binding arbitration if they refuse to pay publishers. Supporters of the effort, like Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, say it would provide fair compensation to a news industry currently “in crisis.” Google, on the other hand, says the bill amounts to a “link tax.”

“We’ve been fully transparent about our concern that C-18 is overly broad and, if unchanged, could impact products Canadians use and rely on every day,” the Google spokesperson added. “We remain committed to supporting a sustainable future for news in Canada and offering solutions that fix Bill C-18.”

Google Canada Vice President Vice President and Country Managing Director Sabrina Geremia expanded on the company’s position in a blog post last year, claiming the bill could fundamentally alter the way Canadians access the internet.

“The ability to link freely between websites is fundamental to how the internet works,” Google Canada Vice President Vice President and Country Managing Director Sabrina Geremia said following news of the bill last year. “Canadians expect that when they search for information, they will have access to ALL the content the internet has to offer. Requiring payment for links risks limiting Canadians’ access to the information they depend on.”

The legislation could end up costing Google, a trillion dollar company, millions. A price estimate report released last fall by Canada’s Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated Google and Facebook would wind up paying around CA$329.2 (or roughly $242.99 USD) to news publishers per year. Those funds, according to the report, would cover around 30% of publishers’ overall editorial costs. Google’s search revenues raked in $42.60 billion in the fourth quarter alone last year.

Still, Canadian lawmakers don’t seem to be ready to back down just yet. In a statement sent to The Wall Street Journal, a spokesperson for Rodriguez said Canadian lawmakers were committed to pressuring Google to provide greater transparency and accountability.

Following Facebook’s model

Meta flexed its muscle last year and warned Canadian officials it could stop the sharing of news links in Canada (as it did in Australia a year prior) if C-18 passed as currently written. In a blog post, Meta said the bill “misrepresents the relationship between platforms and news publishers,” and inaccurately assumes Meta unfairly benefits off the backs of poorly paid news hounds. Moreover, the company said posts to news articles make up less than 3% of what users see in their Facebook feeds. With more than 2 billion daily active users worldwide though, that 3% figure can still account for mountains of news.

All this political jockeying from Google and Meta was really made possible by Meta, then known as Facebook, calling Australia’s bluff in 2021 over disagreements with similar legislation forcing tech firms to pay news publishers. Facebook held firm and ended up pulling the plug on news sharing in the country leaving an estimated 17 million users scrambling to figure out what just happened. Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg accused the company of “endangered public safety” during that time by limiting news access amid a pandemic. Facebook eventually reversed course after striking a more favorable agreement with the Canadian government

It’s still somewhat unclear how far Google’s willing to take its fight in Canada. Like Meta, Google previously threatened to cut Australian off from search but never ended up following through. Canadian officials, for now at least, seem willing to press on with the fight. In a statement, Rodriguez, Canada’s Heritage Minister said he was “disappointed” by Google’s decision to follow Facebook’s lead but said Canadians “won’t be intimidated.”

It’s disappointing to hear that Google is trying to block access to news sites. Canadians won’t be intimidated. At the end of the day, all we’re asking the tech giants to do is compensate journalists when they use their work.

— Pablo Rodriguez (@pablorodriguez) February 23, 2023

“All we’re asking the tech giants to do is compensate journalists when they use their work,” a spokesperson for Rodriguez told The Wall Street Journal. “Tech giants need to be more transparent and accountable to Canadians.”