Canada And Australia To Coordinate On Tech Regulation: Ottawa

Ottawa said on Tuesday that Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison plan to coordinate efforts to force tech giants to pay the media for content.

“The Prime Minister has noted increased cooperation between Canada and Australia on the regulation of online platforms,” ​​a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office in Canada said.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, filmed in June 2020, spoke with an Australian respondent about online platform regulation.
AFP / Lars Hagberg

“They agreed to continue coordinating efforts to address online harm and ensure that the revenues of web giants are shared more equitably with creators and the media.”

Their conversation on Monday took place after Facebook blocked Australian users from accessing news content on the platform in response to a regulatory bill under consideration by the Australian Parliament.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, depicted in March 2020, was angry and accused Facebook of making a decision to “remove Australia from friends.”
AFP / DAVID GRAY

The US social media giant announced on Tuesday, but it will remove the news ban after the move has caused anger internationally with Australia.

The world’s first Australian bill is being strongly opposed by tech giants, thanks to the provisions governing the online financial relationship between such companies and the media.

Canada, the European Union and others are also trying to regulate players in major tech sectors, especially Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, including France’s 2019 tech tax.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has led efforts to establish such taxes at the international level.