In a previous blog post, we covered Bill C-18 (Online News Act) and how this proposed legislation would require digital media platforms to compensate news outlets when reproducing or otherwise facilitating access to their content. At the time
On April 5, 2022, the Canadian Heritage Minister, Pablo Rodriguez, tabled Bill C-18 (Online News Act): An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada. Bill C-18 requires digital media platforms (e.g., social media services, search engines) to compensate media outlets for news content made available on their platforms. Under Bill C-18, news content is made available if a platform reproduces news content or facilitates access to news content in any way.
As we have previously written, the Pew Research Center found in 2016 that 62% of American adults consumed news on social media to some extent.
In September of 2017, the Pew Center updated its research, finding that, in 2017, about 67% or two-thirds of American adults are reporting getting “at least some of their news on social media,” a 5% increase from last year.
According to the research, this 5% growth was driven by more substantial increases among certain demographic groups. The research shows that 55% of American adults over 50 now consume news on social media sites, up from 45% in 2016. The research also reports that 74% of non-white Americans get news on social media sites in 2017, up from 64% in 2016. Last, there was an increase among those with less than a bachelor’s degree getting news from social media, to 69%, compared to 60% previously.
Despite all the headlines and studies on social media’s role in spreading fake news and its influence on public opinion, the majority of the public does not seem to plan to stop reading news on social media any time soon. However, some optimistic leaders of the traditional news media see fake news as an opportunity to highlight the integrity of mainstream media.
In the few months leading up to the United States election, social media was flooded with articles with sensationalized titles and incendiary content. Many of these “news” stories were fake. They were written for the purpose of swaying public opinion or generating a profit from ad revenue and were often published by sham entities or news websites. Large, popular companies may be the next targets, so this post will describe a few actions companies could take.