The state of what constitutes media in modern times has come under intense debate as the nature of the industry itself has significantly changed due to the Internet. In response to this, there are many people proposing different ways for how to handle the new social paradigm. According to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, he has advanced the idea of providing licenses for media companies:
The minister charged with modernizing Canada’s broadcast and telecommunications law says if the government is to adopt recommendations laid out by an expert panel, licensing enforcement likely won’t be applied the same way for small media groups as it will be for global tech giants.
One of the report’s proposals, drafted by former telecommunications executive Janet Yale, specifically suggests requiring all companies that deliver “audio, audiovisual, and alphanumeric news content” to Canadians be regulated by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) or another body, through a licence or registration.
“If you’re a distributor of content in Canada and obviously if you’re a very small media organization the requirement probably wouldn’t be the same if you’re Facebook, or Google. There would have to be some proportionality embedded into this,” said Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault in an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday. (source)
While there is much abuse that such companies do and little real diversity, given the current state, it would likely only advance the creation of a “single voice” that would be similar to many newspapers still today and definitely those of old who serve a “official” news outlets and use their position to stamp out any dissenting opinions.