A new Angus Reid survey shows that concern over blocked access to Canadian news content is driving a growing push for Ottawa to rescind Bill C-18—the Online News Act.

The federal government introduced the proposed legislation in an attempt to get tech companies like Google and Meta to pay their “fair share” for the use of Canadian news content. Other jurisdictions have introduced, or are considering introducing, similar laws compelling the tech giants to negotiate deals with news organizations.

Newsrooms across the country have been cut dramatically in recent years, and a growing number of organizations have been forced to fold.

The tech giants’ response has been to block Canadian news content from their platforms once the legislation comes into effect. That has left many Canadians contemplating what the loss of Google and Facebook to access local news will mean.

Angus Reid put the question to Canadians, and a majority of those asked indicate that Ottawa should “back down” and rescind Bill C-18.

Forty-eight percent of those asked agree that Ottawa should rescind the legislations while 26 percent disagree. One quarter weren’t able to say one way or the other how the federal government should proceed.

Other findings from the survey show that one third (32 percent) of Canadians asked seek out local news from Canadian news sites, 28 per cent get it from Facebook, while 23 percent get it from Google News.

Only about 15 percent of Canadians say they pay for an online news subscription to a Canadian site.