Bill C-18, the Online News Act, is less than 48 hours old, but the more you examine the bill, the worse it gets. My previous posts unpacked why the general policy is bad for press independence and competition as well as why the bill features a misguided attempt to require payments for links. Yet the bill requires an even deeper look since it goes far beyond “compensating journalists when they use their content” (as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday in the House of Commons) or even linking to news articles. Rather, the bill requires compensation for facilitating access to news in any way and in any amount.

In doing so, it eviscerates the claim that there is a tangible connection between the requirement to pay for the value of news articles on social media and search platforms (called digital news intermediaries or DNI’s in the bill). Rather, Bill C-18 is a shakedown with requirements to pay for nothing more than listing Canadian media organizations with hyperlinks in a search index, social media post, or possibly even a tweet. At a time when we need the public to access to credible news, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez believes that large Internet companies that engage in the act of facilitating access to news – not copying, not using, not even directly linking – should pay for doing so.

Media stakeout by Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, accompanied by Ambassadors from other Member States, on Israel and Palestine. Followed by a statement by Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations.

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour today (22 Jun) condemned Israeli “aggression against our people and the terrorism of the settlers” and demanded that the Security Council “act on resolutions adopted by the Security Council, particularly resolution 904, calling for protection to the civilian population.”

Flanked by ambassadors from Arab countries, including Council President Lana Nusseibeh, from the United Arab Emirates, Mansour said, “it doesn't make sense that those who are responsible for these crimes to get away with it without the international community saying, those who executed these terrorist crimes, those who planned, those who shielded and protected the terrorists should get away from facing accountability and justice.”

Asked about Israel’s exclusion from a Secretary-General’s children-in-conflict blacklist, despite the alleged killing of 42 children by Israeli forces, Mansour said, “the Secretary General made a big mistake in not listing this current Israeli Government. This is the most extreme government, loaded with fascist elements. If you do not list this government now, when will you list the Israeli government? It's very unfortunate that he selected not to list them. We were hopeful that when he last year said that if they continue with this tradition and this path, I warned them that they will be considered to be listed. They continued on the same path. They killed more children than last year. But yet he did not list them.”

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a speech before U.S. Congress on Thursday, following a rare appearance before the press at the White House alongside U.S. President Joe Biden. Discussing the topics of democracy, international defence and the strengthening bond between India and the U.S., Modi was met with frequent applause.

"The dark clouds of coercion and confrontation are casting their shadow in the Indo-Pacific," Modi said, referencing the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. He also added that "the stability of the region has become one of the central concerns of our partnership" and that "we share a vision of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific."

The 72-year-old politician also briefly referenced U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s Indian roots, which prompted cheers among his audience and a smile from Harris herself.

Thursday's visit marks only the third state visit of Biden’s presidency and the third overall by an Indian leader to the U.S., a sign of the strengthening bond between Washington and New Delhi and the distance they have travelled since being on opposite sides of the Cold War.