Trump demands Canada scrap law that led to social media block of news content as condition of new trade deal

The Online News Act, or C-18, was passed in 2023, and forces major tech platforms such as Google and Facebook to pay Canadian news outlets for posting their content. In response to the law, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, blocked Canadians from viewing news content on its platforms, a block that still remains in effect.

Sources told the Toronto Star that Ottawa has told publishers to prepare for the end of the Online News Act. The Trump administration has said that a prospective deal would include a “digital trade alignment” between the two countries, and a source with knowledge of the talks said that American negotiators have expressed discontent with previous concessions to American tech companies made by Canada.

In the US Trade Representative’s 2025 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, it lists Canada’s Online News Act as a barrier to trade. The report states, “On June 22, 2023, the Canadian Government passed the Online News Act (Bill C-18). Under the Act, designated platform services companies are required to engage in negotiations with Canadian news providers to pay the news businesses for content accessed via certain services offered on the companies’ digital platforms.

"The Act gives the gives the CRTC new powers to regulate the Canadian news industry, including determining who is a journalist, what is an eligible news business, and calculating compensation. The United States continues to monitor this issue.”

A 2026 report from Canada stated that “The Online News Act has been identified by the United States Trade Representative as a trade irritant in relation to the review of CUSMA and discussions around tariffs imposed by the United States government.”

Trump on Tuesday announced that a planned implementation of tariffs under Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 was paused, writing, "I have paused the 50% Tariffs against Canada, that were scheduled to kick in tomorrow morning for a three day period, based on the fact that Canada and the U.S.A., subject to the finalization of documents, have a DEAL! The great Keystone XL Pipeline, long ago killed by Sleepy Joe Biden, may be awoken from the grave!"