Proposed Online News Act has mandatory arbitration, production orders, $15M-per-day penalties

By Cristin Schmitz ( April 6, 2022, 3:30 PM EDT) -- A federal government bill would require “digital news intermediaries” such as Google and Meta Platforms — which link to or otherwise use content produced by “news businesses” — to negotiate “fair compensation” with such news outlets in Canada, failing which the digital platforms would face mandatory mediation and “final offer” arbitration at their own expense (including collective bargaining in some cases), as well as the prospect of CRTC orders for production of their sensitive commercial information, and administrative money penalties (AMPs) of up to $15 million per day for committing newly created regulatory offences....