Google donates $300 000 to Charlie Hebdo through fund

This week satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo faced the onslaught of gunman who ended up killing twelve people, including eight members of staff. Among other donations, the Digital Press Fund, which is backed by Google, is donating €250 000 (about US$300 000) to support the magazine’s mission to print a record-breaking 1 million copies of its next issue.

As the Guardian reports, the press innovation fund was setup in 2013 to settle a dispute of whether or not Google should be taxed for displaying news results. France, along with other European governments, flirted with the idea of implementing a Google tax at the time.

Read more: Why taxing Google News is a terrible idea for newspapers

Google France displayed a black ribbon on its homepage earlier this week which was echoed by the thousands of other tributes from around the globe together with the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie.

Along with the support of the Digital Press Fund, numerous other support from local organisations and abroad.

The Guardian Media Fund has pledged £100,000 (more than US$150 000) along with other local news agencies through the Press and Pluralism Fund which is matching the Digital Press Innovation Fund’s US$300 000.

Read more: 20 poignant #JeSuisCharlie tributes from around the world

As Mashable points out, you could also pitch in by donating via the Press and Pluralism Fund here or pledging on the crowdfunding page here, which has already scooped up over €50 000 (nearly US$60 000).

The magazine, which usually prints an estimated 60 000, is aiming to produce a milestone of 1 million copies of its next weekly issue.