U.S. State Department targets Online News Act in human rights report

By Canadian Press on August 14, 2025.

OTTAWA — The U.S. State Department has released a new human rights report that takes aim at Canada’s Online News Act.

The bill, which requires Meta and Google to compensate news publishers for the use of their content, is cited in a section of the report on freedom of the press.

Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated last week he is open to repealing the legislation.

While Meta pulled news from its platforms in response to the 2023 law, news outlets are now receiving payments from a $100 million Google fund.

Carney killed a digital services tax that would have applied to many large U.S. tech companies after U.S. President Donald Trump halted trade negotiations with Canada over the tax.

Last week, a group of U.S. Republicans urged the Trump administration to push Canada to kill a separate bill that forces large streaming companies like Netflix and Amazon to make financial contributions to Canadian content and news.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press