Google suing CRTC to have YouTube video ad revenue exempted from regulatory fees

TORONTO – Google is taking Canada’s broadcasting regulator to court, arguing “significant” revenue it earns from advertisements on YouTube videos shouldn’t be considered when it comes to the regulatory fees it owes the CRTC.

In an application filed in the Federal Court of Canada on April 24, Google says those revenues come from user-generated content, which it argues should be excluded from fee calculations because of exemptions in the Broadcasting Act.

Google says in the filing that the federal government directed the CRTC not to impose regulatory requirements on online platforms such as YouTube “in respect of the programs of social media creators.”

But the tech giant says that after submitting a form to the regulator which outlined its fee revenues — excluding its YouTube ad revenues from the calculation — it was directed by the regulator in a March 25 email to include those amounts.

Google says it abided and refiled the form with the revenue it had initially subtracted, but maintains its position that those fees should be exempt from the total.

It is asking the court to quash the CRTC’s order as “unreasonable” and declare its original form as compliant with the regulations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2024.