Google Criticizes Canada’s Proposed Link Tax

Google has come out swinging against a law proposed by the Canadian government that would force the search engine to pay publishers for listing content.

Canada’s proposed Online News Act would compel tech companies to negotiate deals with news organizations for content that appears on their platforms. It’s modelled after legislation introduced in Australia last year. Should the bill get passed and made into law, it could encourage more countries to take a similar approach.

Google claims a link tax would “break” search results for everyone.

Technically, a publisher peddling conspiracy theories about current events could be eligible for compensation if they employ at least two writers from Canada.

On top of that, Google wouldn’t be able to downrank those publishers in Canadian search results. The Online News Act stipulates publishers receiving payment from Google can neither be penalized or receive preferential treatment.