New Delhi: Facebook and Instagram users in Canada will no longer be able to view or post news content on the platforms after their parent company, Meta, declined to comply with a new law that mandates internet giants to pay news publishers in the country.
The move comes as a response to the recently passed Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, which seeks to regulate digital news intermediaries in the country.
On Tuesday, in a blog post, the California-based parent company of Facebook and Instagram announced that the implementation of these changes would take place over the next few weeks.
“The only way we can reasonably comply with this legislation is to end news availability for people in Canada. We are announcing these changes, that begin today, to provide clarity to the millions of Canadians and businesses who use our platforms,” Meta said in the statement.
The Online News Act, which was passed into law by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government on 22 June, mandates companies like Google parent Alphabet and Meta to provide fair compensation to media outlets for the news content shared on their platforms.
On Wednesday, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, who is responsible for the government’s dealings with Meta, criticised the company’s actions as “irresponsible” and reaffirmed the government’s position, stating that they would remain steadfast in their stance on it.
“They would rather block their users from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organisations,” St-Onge said.
My statement on Meta blocking news on Facebook and Instagram ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fO8KS9uMpn
— Pascale St-Onge (@PascaleStOnge_) August 1, 2023
‘Unworkable, fundamentally flawed’
In May, Meta’s Global Affairs President, Nick Clegg, stated that the Act was based on a “fundamentally flawed premise”. Additionally, he asserted that if the Act were to be enacted, Meta would be compelled to terminate the availability of news content on both Facebook and Instagram platforms in Canada.
“Meta does not benefit unfairly from people sharing links to news content on our platform,” Clegg asserted.
Tech giant Google has also refused to participate in the change and claimed that the C-18 Bill will make it difficult for them to continue offering Google News Showcase in Canada.
In a blog post on 29 June, Kent Walker, the company’s Global Affairs President, said the new law was “unworkable” and represented “the wrong approach to supporting journalism in Canada.”
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