Canadian MPs summon Google executives to Ottawa to explain reasons for blocking news content
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Google CEO Sundar Pichai is among the executives the House of Commons Heritage Committee wants to hear from about the restrictions on content.
(LifeSiteNews) – After Tech giant Google blocked access to some online news content for many Canadians in what it said was a test run to prepare for a federal Liberal government internet censorship bill, Canadian MPs have now demanded the company’s CEO explain why this was done.
On Tuesday, the House of Commons Heritage Committee in a unanimous vote said it is requiring a multitude of Google officers be summoned to testify for the news content blocking fiasco.
Those being summoned include Google CEO Sundar Pichai; Richard Gingras, vice president of news; Sabrina Geremia, vice president and country manager; and Kent Walker, parent company Alphabet global affairs and chief legal officer.
Of note is that the summons only legally applies to people living in Canada. Only Geremia is in Canada, so it remains unclear if the other officers will abide by the summons.
Last week, news broke that Google confirmed that it was temporarily limiting news content access for just under 4% of Canadian users.
The limitation of news applies to the Google search engine as well as the Discover feature on Android devices that relays the news to smartphone users.
The tech giant says that all types of news content are being impacted by its test run, including Canadian news, which it says will run for about five weeks.
According to Google, its test run comes in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Bill C-18 – also called the “Online News Act.” This bill would force social media companies to pay Canadian legacy media for news content shared on their platforms.
Shay Purdy, a Google spokesperson, noted that the company is “briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18” that impact a very “small percentage of Canadian users.”
Purdy said that Google is being “fully transparent about our concern that C-18 is overly broad,” adding that if left “unchanged” it could “impact products Canadians use and rely on every day.”
The motion to summon Google executives was brought forth by Liberal MP Chris Bittle, who said it was “troubling that Google was doing this in secret but was caught by the press.”