A new human rights report released by the U.S. State Department says Canada’s Online News Act could be used to discriminate against “disfavoured” independent media outlets. It also says that government funding for some media could lead to “self-censorship.”
The U.S. Department of State released its 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Aug. 12. Under the Freedom of the Press section in Canada’s report, the U.S. department takes aim at the Online News Act of 2023, which came into force in Canada on Dec. 19, 2023.
The Act, formerly known as Bill C-18, requires major tech companies, such as Meta and Google, to compensate Canadian media outlets for news content made available on their platforms….