The government effort to ram through the bill has been anything but honest and fair Canadian PoliticsMedia Science and Technology The high-stakes game of chicken that is the Online News Act reached a new, dangerous level last week after the federal government closed the list of speakers on its pending Bill C-18 without inviting Meta.“For a government that once prided itself on consultation, the decision to block further committee testimony is a remarkable abdication of the principles of a consultative, inclusive approach to legislative development.” Meanwhile the nation’s press, to which Ottawa has promised a piece of the profits Meta and Google now make from online advertising, clamours unanimously for the digital giants to pay them.“We have repeatedly shared with the government that news content is not a draw for our users and is not a significant source of revenue for our company.” Meta’s threat to quit carrying Canadian news was unmistakable.Murdoch is anxious to see his plan spread to the US and the UK, where he also owns newspapers, so it’s a business battle going on in several countries, with the worldwide focus now on Canada’s Bill C-18.Facebook quit carrying links to Australian news stories for several days until the government there amended its law, allowing it to opt out, stating: “The government has clarified we will retain the ability to decide if news appears on Facebook so that we won’t automatically be subject to a forced negotiation.” Meta is now in the process of getting out of the news business, pulling the plug on its partnerships with publishers."