Bill C-18

When the News Disappeared

Bill C-18 and the Cost of Canada’s Fight with Big Tech

A forthcoming book by Mir North

Canada set out to protect Canadian journalism. Then Canadian news disappeared from Facebook and Instagram.

When the News Disappeared examines the story of Bill C-18—the Online News Act—from what the legislation was intended to accomplish to the confrontation with Meta and Google and the consequences that followed.

Coming November 2026

About the Book

What happened after Canada took on Big Tech?

Bill C-18 was introduced with an ambitious goal: to address the imbalance between powerful technology platforms and the Canadian news organizations whose journalism circulated through them.

But the story didn't unfold as expected.

Meta responded by removing Canadian news from Facebook and Instagram. Google took a different path. Publishers adapted, Canadians changed how they encountered news online, and the debate over whether the legislation helped or hurt Canadian journalism continued.

When the News Disappeared looks at what Bill C-18 promised, what actually happened, and what the experience can teach us about government regulation, Big Tech and the unintended consequences of public policy.

Drawing on government records, industry reporting, public statements and developments surrounding the legislation, the book separates documented events from analysis and opinion while asking a larger question:

What happens when a government tries to solve a genuine problem, but the solution creates problems of its own?

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When the News Disappeared is currently being completed and is expected to be published in November 2026.

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