The Quebec Professional Association of Journalists (FPJQ) is “not intimidated” by Meta, which continues to block news content in Canada.
Published at 2:18 am. Updated at 5:00 am.
“We will not be intimidated. “We cannot allow things to happen like this, especially not without a fight,” said the new president of the FPJQ and La Presse journalist Éric-Pierre Champagne on Saturday during the FPJQ congress.
The journalists’ association would like to meet with Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge as soon as possible. “We don’t want to see her again in a month. For us it is a matter of days or weeks,” said Mr Champagne.
In response to the Online News Act (Project C-18), Meta has been blocking Canadian and foreign news on Facebook and Instagram since August 1st. The law was passed last June and is scheduled to come into force in December. Web giants have to pay media a fee when they share their content.
“Social networks monetize our content. The content costs you nothing and you earn money from it. Canada is a sovereign state that has the ability to legislate in this regard,” said outgoing FPJQ President Michaël Nguyen.
Common front
PR experts are also joining forces with journalists to denounce Meta’s decision. “We have to do something. We find it regrettable to block messages on platforms like Meta, which are widely used by young people in particular. We found this unacceptable,” said Quebec Society of Public Relations Professionals (SQPRP) president Patrick Howe.
“When Meta announced it would no longer share news, we immediately withdrew our advertising budget because it was a problem for us [message fort] also from our brokers. “I have transferred our budget to the media side,” explained for her part the communications director of the Organisme d’autoréglementation du courtageimmobilier du Québec (OACIQ), Joanne Beauvais.
Tag without meta
On September 15, journalists and PR experts held a day without Facebook or Instagram to denounce the blocking of news by the giant Meta. “It made us realize that there are many people outside the journalistic world who are concerned about what is happening,” said Éric-Pierre Champagne.
“Political parties that we couldn’t even call came forward to support us. It really made it clear to us that this is an issue that worries many people,” added outgoing FPJQ president Michaël Nguyen.
The date of September 15th was not chosen by chance. It’s International Day of Democracy. As part of this campaign, the public was also asked to subscribe to a Quebec media outlet and a newsletter from a local media outlet.
With Émilie Bilodeau, La Presse
The story so far
- June 18: Bill C-18, which would require web giants to pay media a fee when they distribute their content, passes in the Senate but is not scheduled to take effect until December.
- August 1: Meta blocks Canadian and foreign news on Facebook and Instagram.
- September 15: Journalists and PR experts organize a day without Facebook or Instagram.
- October 6: Google proposes to exclude Canadian journalistic content from its search engine.