U.S. State Department takes aim at Canada’s Online News Act

The U.S. State Department is taking aim at Canada’s Online News Act in a new human rights report, warning that it undermines press freedom.

Source: Mark Carney, X, May 6, 2025

The U.S. State Department is taking aim at Canada’s Online News Act in a new human rights report, warning that it undermines press freedom as hundreds of news organizations across the country have begun receiving funding under the law.

The report includes the Act in a section on freedom of the press, saying “significant curtailments remain despite Canada generally respecting free expression.”

It flagged concerns with the Act, as well as journalism tax credits and federal media programs, including a diversity hiring stream it claimed discriminates “against journalists who fell outside of these favoured categories.”

Under the Online News Act, tech platforms are required to compensate Canadian news outlets for their content.

Platforms like Meta, which did not comply with the mechanism, were barred from posting news articles on their platforms, effectively censoring news outlets and their accounts on Facebook and Instagram in Canada.

Google shared concerns about the law but eventually struck a deal to provide $100 million annually.

The Canadian Journalism Collective administers the funds and began disbursing money in March.

By July 31, more than $55 million had been distributed to Canadian and Indigenous news businesses, with the largest recipients including mainstream outlets like the CBC ($6.86 million), Bell Media ($5.32 million), Postmedia ($4.27 million), Corus ($3.34 million) and Rogers Media ($2.11 million).

Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that he is open to repealing the Act, but his government maintains its implementation is ongoing.

The State Department report comes amid broader U.S. opposition to Canadian digital regulation, with some Republicans urging President Donald Trump to push Ottawa to scrap the Online Streaming Act as well.

Canada currently ranks 21st in the world on the press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders.