Tuesday, the day on which Online News Act When it comes into effect, Mark Zuckerberg will die of laughter.
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When I write that Facebook is making fun of “us,” I think of our governments, our political parties, our media and all of our companies that continue to advertise heavily on social networks. I also think of all the people who need attention and feed social networks with meaningless or outrageous, often meaningless and uninteresting comments.
However, all of these people know that Mark Zuckerberg gave us a huge middle finger last summer. The billionaire boss of Meta Group got up one morning in July and decided the best way to avoid the law forcing Facebook to compensate the media for Canadian news was to block it. You just had to think about it, right? This saved Meta 60 million Canadian dollars (which is what we wanted to claim from him). However, it is “dust” for a company whose annual sales exceed 118 billion and profits exceed 40 billion. Obviously in “US” dollars.
Most of our media outlets, which had been promoting Facebook for free for years, have stopped inviting their readers to participate altogether. But that doesn't stop Radio-Canada from continuing to invite her on certain programs, such as the Ici Première morning show. The federal government and some provincial governments went to great lengths to stop advertising on Facebook, but political parties, such as Québec Solidaire, continued to do so. Major companies have stopped advertising on Facebook and Instagram, but almost everyone has turned a blind eye.
IT'S JUST A FIRST STEP
Last week, Minister Pascale St-Onge announced that print would reach two-thirds of Google's 100 million. Aside from the seven million “legally” reserved for CBC/Radio-Canada, the broadcasters will share the rest. The minister is not unreasonably proud of her success, but $100 million is nothing compared to the $3.5 billion in advertising Canadians bought on social media last year. Whatever amounts we deduct from Google, Facebook and Co., they will never compensate for what our media has lost and continues to lose.
YOU MUST BE CONSISTENT
Minister St-Onge must therefore have the necessary consistency to convince the Revenue Agency, the Ministers of Finance and Revenue and the Prime Minister that advertising expenditure on social networks and foreign press and broadcast services are not more deductible under the Income Tax Law. Contrary to all logic, the Revenue Agency allows full deduction of foreign digital media advertising expenses.
To save Canadian magazines from bankruptcy, Ottawa did not hesitate to change the tax law in the 1960s to eliminate or limit the deductibility of advertising expenses for foreign newspapers and magazines.
In December 2019, the Supreme Court overturned a CRTC decision that allowed Canadian viewers to watch American commercials aired during the Super Bowl. That means there is no shortage of precedent for curbing our political parties' and our companies' advertising efforts with digital giants. Ms. St-Onge doesn't even have to bring up the rule of cultural exception.