The inclusion of the public broadcaster should be opposed by its critics and supporters since it harms both competition and the public interest role of the public broadcaster. For critics of the CBC, Bill C-18 will further distort the market by harming private sector news organizations. The private sector has been urging the CBC to exit the online advertising business for years, arguing that the robust online CBC presence diverts much needed ad dollars from the private sector. It is hard enough for digital start-ups to compete with a public broadcaster, but to compete against the public broadcaster flush with money from Google and Facebook may make the challenge even more difficult. Fulfilling that public mandate and justifying supporters view that a public broadcaster is worth supporting depends upon making the content as openly accessible as possible.

Source: CBC News October 04, 2022 14:05 UTC