Google has agreed to pay Canadian $100 million a year into a fund to support news organisations in Canada as part of a deal with the government, ending a dispute that led it to threaten to cut links to news from its services.

The C$100mn (US$73.6mn) pact ends a six-month stand-off following the passage of an online news law designed to funnel some of the cash that Google and Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, make from online advertising to bolster the finances of news organisations.

The dispute blew up into the biggest conflict between the internet giants and a national government over news subsidies since Australia became the first country to pass a law on the issue in 2021.

Read also: Paying their dues: Google agrees to pay Canadian publishers for content

Google agrees to pay C$100mn a year for news in Canada