Google has excluded Canada from its Bard launch in what appears to be retaliation for Canada’s passage of the Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18.

Google and Meta both pulled news from their platforms in Canada in response to Bill C-18, which would force online platforms to compensate news sources for linking to their articles. It appears Google’s retaliation goes even further, excluding Canada from its Bard AI launch.

As the Windsor Star points out, Canada is part of an interesting group of countries excluded from the launch, with Afghanistan, China, North Korea, and Russia also on the list.

When the outlet inquired why Canada was excluded, Google provided the following statement:

We’re committed to being good partners as we work through regulatory uncertainty in Canada, and we’re enthusiastic about bringing Bard’s generative AI potential to Canadians soon.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already accused the two tech giants of “bullying tactics.” This latest move on Google’s part is unlikely to change the Canadian government’s opinion.