World Press Freedom Canada (WPFC) is deeply concerned that the Liberal government has ignored a key threat to news media and other content creators in its AI for All strategy document. 

Prime Minister Mark Carney and AI Minister Evan Solomon on June 4 released a strategy on artificial intelligence that pledges to build trust in the technology, expand opportunities from it and protect Canada’s sovereignty.

However, the strategy is silent on the issue of AI companies using copyrighted material from news media and other producers to “train” their generative AI platforms without compensating the content owners.

WPFC applauds the federal government’s goal of protecting Canadians from the excesses of AI in areas such as privacy and countering misinformation and deep fakes produced by those using it. 

We support the strategy’s focus on maximizing Canada’s benefits from AI. However, we remain concerned that it fails to address core concerns about lost jobs and financial impacts on news media and other content creators who have already lost key audiences to social media platforms.

An international alliance of news media executives laid out Global Principles on Artificial Intelligence. Topping the list: Developers, operators and deployers of AI systems must respect intellectual property rights, which protect the rights holders’ investments in original content. 

Paul Deegan, CEO of News Media Canada, said the Liberal strategy misses the boat when it comes to protecting Canadian culture, voices and stories.

“The strategy does not offer protections for journalistic content,” Deegan said in a statement on LinkedIn. “Nor does it mitigate the societal risks of the brazen theft of IP by the AI companies, which is happening on an industrial scale.”

Publishers in Canada and the United States are suing AI providers like Open AI and Perplexity over alleged copyright infringement. Last month, CNN filed suit against Perplexity accusing the company of unlawfully scraping over 17,000 CNN stories, videos, and images.

WPFC urges the Carney government to address the issue of intellectual property protection of news and other content generators as the government tackles the many challenges it has laid out in the AI for All strategy.

Read WPFC’s submission, Public interest must drive Canada’s approach to AI, to the government’s AI consultation.