Bill C-18

Bell will likely be the largest individual beneficiary of Bill C-18's implementation, with an estimated payout of $23-51 million or 15.6% of the total funds

Bill C-18 seeks to force companies like Google and Facebook, Instagram parent Meta to pay Canadian news outlets for linking to their content

Last month, Google started blocking news content for some Canadian users across Google Search and Discover as a potential response to Bill C-18

Last week, Google started blocking news content for some Canadian users across its search engine and Android devices in response to Bill C-18

Bill C-18 seeks to force internet giants like Google and Facebook parent Meta Platforms to pay news media and journalists for linking to their content

The tech giant argues that the bill's definition of an eligible news source is too broad and unspecific, which could lead to unintended consequences.

"They made the same threat in Australia and at the end of the day they stayed," Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told reporters on Wednesday.