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Ottawa – Meta has announced it will block access to news on Facebook and Instagram to all users in Canada in response to the passage of the Online News Act in the House of Commons.
Indeed, the C-18 bill, which will force Google and Meta to pay media companies for news content that they share or otherwise reuse on their platforms, is about to go into effect.
The Senate passed the bill in a final vote and is now awaiting royal approval amid a standoff between the Liberal government and Silicon Valley tech giants.
In a statement, Meta says he has repeatedly said that to “comply” with Bill C-18, “content shared by media outlets, including news editors and broadcasters, would no longer be accessible to Facebook and Instagram users in Canada.” .
Ottawa, which claims the law creates a level playing field between online advertising giants and the declining news industry, is now waiting to see if Google will follow Meta’s example and remove journalistic content from its platforms at all. Canada.
Google has previously indicated that it may be able to remove news links from its popular search engine.
Earlier this month, Meta began testing what the social media giant says will help “develop an effective solution to end news content availability.” These tests block messages for 5% of Canadian users. Google conducted a similar test earlier this year.
FRIENDS, which describes itself as a non-partisan grassroots movement defending public broadcasting, media and culture, responded to the news. They applaud MPs “who have withstood threats from Google and Facebook to block news in Canada”.
“The passage of the Online News Act is a crucial step and offers much-needed support to journalism here. By forcing internet giants to enter into reparation deals with our news organizations, a market imbalance is being corrected that is threatening the very existence of Canada’s information sector and, more broadly, our democracy,” said Marla Boltman, executive director of FRIENDS, in a press release.
The Online News Act requires the two companies to enter into agreements with news organizations to pay them for news content that appears on their websites if it helps the tech giants generate money.
According to FRIENDS, the work does not end with the passage of this bill. The group wants Ottawa to ensure Radio-Canada has the tools and resources to “provide local and regional news where the private market is lacking.”