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Tech giants pressure Canada to review its legislation hostile to their economic interests

Tech giants pressure Canada to review its legislation hostile to their economic interests

By م.زهير الشاعر

Published: February 14, 2023

Without clear publicly stated reasons, Google and the tech giants resist government initiatives to fix the imbalances created by the global digital empires between national and local telecommunications institutions.


Google announced on February 5 that it will cut 12,000 jobs in Canada but did not specify where and when. Meta had previously threatened to block access to its platforms via Facebook.


It is noted that the reasons for this "cold war" are Bill C-11 and Bill C-18, which are legislations that tech giants view as hostile to their economic interests and want the Canadian government to "retract" them.

It is worth mentioning that Canada is not alone "facing this high-profit game," as many countries, including, but not limited to, Australia, France, and Italy, have initiated or taken measures to mitigate what some of their citizens consider predatory practices in creativity, advertising, and journalism.


This may seem exaggerated to some, but it must be pointed out that the situation is serious enough for governments to lament income transfer technologies abroad to avoid paying taxes, wasting advertising dollars outside the country, and outsourcing design work.


Canada, for its part, is in the process of adopting the Australian model as a solution, which consists essentially of forcing tech giants to negotiate with qualified news organizations to compensate them for 25% of editing costs, which are determined according to specific criteria.


It is noteworthy that legislations like Bill C-18 serve the needs of Canadians and promote government policy goals related to state-building and strengthening the fundamentals through which shared values are involved or material and political objectives are built that benefit everyone.


Generally, good governments try to expand opportunities linked to positive outcomes in this regard and mitigate the challenges faced by society as it transitions from the era of cultural communications to the next.


Rapid growth and expansion in digital technologies is one of these challenges, which has become an almost worrying topic everywhere around the world.


In a nine-page letter to the new chairman of the CRTC from the Canadian Minister of Heritage and Culture and the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, dated February 3, they indicated that these challenges could "undermine Canadian culture, entrench inequality and injustice in society, and jeopardize democracy."


The two also spoke about communications, freedom of expression, transparency, and economic and political feasibility.

More specifically, the two ministers expressed their concerns that stacked digital units might appropriate the creative and financial resources upon which small and medium telecommunications companies like NEPMCC members rely to survive.


It is not a small issue. Giant Tech has defined the end of journalism and multilingual, multiethnic media, where multicultural and multiethnic communities (as well as geographical communities) reached by NEPMCC members with appropriate news and analyses for their integration process may face a short lifespan.


However, according to the latest 2021 census, that demographic segment which does not identify as Indigenous / First Nations or Anglo or French comprises just under 25% of the total population.

It is also the only numerically growing segment.
Politically, they are indispensable for the country's growth and development.

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