Seven Journalism Organizations Call on the EU and Canada to Protect Journalism
Seven European and Canadian publisher organizations have called for the inclusion of journalism protection in the Montreal summit declaration on October 29 and 30, amid concerns over AI search summaries.
On October 26, 2026, seven organizations representing publishers in Europe and Canada announced a transatlantic alliance, asking the European Union and Canada to include a "firm commitment" in the joint declaration of the 21st EU-Canada Summit, held in Montreal on October 29 and 30, regarding the creation of conditions that support free, independent, and sustainable media, as well as reliable professional journalism.
The organizations include the European Newspaper Publishers' Association, the Alliance de la Presse d'Information Générale, the European Magazine Media Association, the European Publishers Council, News Media Europe, News Media Canada, and Magazines Canada. In their statement, the organizations point to artificial intelligence, particularly search-generated summaries, as the most pressing challenge for the sector.
The organizations state that AI tools use their articles without permission or compensation and prevent readers from clicking through to their websites, costing them readers, subscriptions, and advertising revenue. They are demanding stronger rights that enable publishers to authorize or refuse the use of their content and enforce their rights, transparency regarding downstream data usage, and support for a common standard to track content usage.
Figures exist regarding the scale of the impact, but they come from different markets and methodologies. The French media regulatory authority Arcom estimated traffic losses between 33% and 38% due to AI-generated summaries, and a randomized study of 1,065 desktop Chrome users found that AI summaries reduced organic external clicks by 39.8%. No response from the European Commission or the Canadian government appeared in the statement.
What Do These Terms Mean?
Generated Search Summaries: Answers written by artificial intelligence that appear at the top of search results instead of website links.
Publishers' Related Rights: A right that provides newspapers and magazines with compensation when digital platforms reuse their content.
Content Tracking Standard: A technical system that notifies a publisher when their content is used, cited, or displayed.
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