#361 Will Government Media Rules Strangle Canadaland?

CANADALAND

In Australia, the news disappeared from Facebook. And Jesse got very worried about the future.

In February, as the Australian government prepared to introduce a link tax, Facebook blocked all news from its Australian platform. The new legislation, lobbied for by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and other big media organizations, would have forced Facebook and Google to pay them each time their content is shared online. Facebook’s strong-arm tactic forced the government to amend the legislation, potentially exempting Facebook altogether if it cuts its own deals with news organizations. In return, Facebook reversed the news ban. Everyone seems happy now…except for smaller independent publishers who are still not sure exactly how they fit into this picture.

The Canadian government is also talking about imposing a link tax, as well as other plans to regulate online media that go well beyond Australia’s contentious legislation.

To understand what the future may have in store, Jesse talks to Susannah George. She’s the founder and CEO of Urban List, a lifestyle site and Australia’s biggest independent digital media company.

And he speaks with Michael Geist, Internet law professor at the University of Ottawa, about the Canadian policy measures up for discussion and what they might mean for us.

This episode was brought to you by Kilne, Freshbooks and Article.

Additional music by Audio Network.

February 28, 2021

More from this series

#820 Crimes Against Nature

Every year, hundreds, possibly thousands, of crimes are happening in the woods of British Columbia. Sometimes the law catches them, but more often than not, they don’t. So, what exactly is happening in BC’s forests?

October 3, 2022

#818 CTV Workers On Workplace Abuse

Lisa LaFlamme was but one CTV News employee. Dozens more speak to us about a toxic workplace where abuse, bullying, and burnout have allegedly been normal. This culture comes from a deliberate corporate plan. In one case, the consequences may have been fatal.

September 26, 2022

#816 The True Story Of Sasquatch

Every pop culture reference to Sasquatch or Bigfoot can be traced to one Macleans Magazine article from 1929, written by Indian Agent J.W. Burns, who stole the story of Sas’qets, a core part of Sto:lo cultural identity for thousands of years. Robert Jago is a Sto:lo writer and Sasquatch enthusiast who set out to take Sasquatch back. But the process of cultural appropriation turns out to be more complicated than passing a physical object back and forth, and Jago tells a unique story of how the Sts’ailes people kept their culture alive in the face of genocide, by appropriating appropriation.

September 19, 2022

#814 The McAfee Virus

A new Netflix documentary documents the violent life and death of John McAfee, a silicon valley magnate who became a murder suspect and the target of an international manhunt.

September 12, 2022

#812 Bruce McCulloch

This week we revisit our interview with Kid In The Hall, Bruce McCulloch.

September 5, 2022

#810 Updates On Nuclear Waste, A Bond Villain, And Starbucks Unions

After we turn off our microphones, here at CANADALAND, the story keeps going. Here are updates on three stories we told you over the last year and a half.

August 29, 2022

#808 Is New Brunswick Covering Up A Deadly Brain Disease?

This week, we revisit a mystery plaguing New Brunswick. Early on-set dementia, muscle atrophy, hallucinations -- in a word, a nightmare. But a mystery that still has yielded few answers.

August 22, 2022

#806 Sh*tty Cities

Governments all over Canada keep building infrastructure that is innately harmful to Canadians and the climate. What might better, more sustainable cities look (and sound) like?

August 15, 2022

All Podcasts

CANADALAND