Meta Starts Blocking News in Canada on Facebook, Instagram Over Law on Paying Publishers

Meta had said links to news articles make up less than 3 percent of the content on its users' feeds.

By Reuters | Updated: 2 August 2023 11:30 IST

Meta Starts Blocking News in Canada on Facebook, Instagram Over Law on Paying Publishers

Photo Credit: Reuters

Meta said in June it would block access to news on its platforms

Highlights

The Online News Act was passed by the Canadian parliament
The law triggered threats from Google, Facebook to curtail their services
Canada's public broadcast CBC called Meta's move irresponsible

Meta Platforms has begun the process to end access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada, it said on Tuesday, in response to a law requiring internet giants to pay news publishers.

The Canadian government quickly denounced the move as "irresponsible," and said the world is watching the process play out in Canada.

The Online News Act, passed by the Canadian parliament, would force platforms like Google parent Alphabet and Meta to negotiate commercial deals with Canadian news publishers for their content.

Snapchat Announces Rewards Program for AR Lens Creators in India: Details

"News outlets voluntarily share content on Facebook and Instagram to expand their audiences and help their bottom line," Rachel Curran, Meta's head of public policy in Canada, said. "In contrast, we know the people using our platforms don't come to us for news."

Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, who is in charge of the government's dealings with Meta, said in a Tuesday statement: "This is irresponsible."

"They would rather block their users from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organizations," St-Onge said.

WeChat Needs a TikTok-Style Ban, Australian Lawmakers Suggest

"We're going to keep standing our ground. After all, if the Government can't stand up for Canadians against tech giants, who will?” she added.

In a campaign against the law, which is part of a broader global trend to make tech firms pay for news, both Meta and Google said in June they would block access to news on their platforms in the country.

Canada's public broadcast CBC also called Meta's move irresponsible and that it was "an abuse of their market power."

Elon Musk's X Sues Nonprofit for Reporting Alleged Hate Speech on Twitter

The Canadian law is similar to a ground-breaking law that Australia passed in 2021 and triggered threats from Google and Facebook to curtail their services.

Both companies eventually struck deals with Australian media firms after amendments to the legislation were offered.

But on Canadian law, Google has argued that it is broader than those enacted in Australia and Europe as it puts a price on news story links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that do not produce news.

Meta had said links to news articles make up less than 3 percent of the content on its users' feeds and argued that news lacked economic value.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said in May that such an argument was flawed and "dangerous to our democracy, to our economy."

Samsung launched the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 alongside the Galaxy Tab S9 series and Galaxy Watch 6 series at its first Galaxy Unpacked event in South Korea. We discuss the company's new devices and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.