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iTWire - Facebook parent Meta starts blocking news content in Canada

 1 year ago
source link: https://itwire.com/government-tech-news/technology-regulation/facebook-parent-meta-starts-blocking-news-content-in-canada.html
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Friday, 04 August 2023 09:16

Facebook parent Meta starts blocking news content in Canada Featured

By Sam Varghese
Facebook parent Meta starts blocking news content in Canada

Image by Krzysztof Pluta from Pixabay

Facebook's parent Meta has started blocking access to news feeds in Canada, something it threatened to do after the country passed an online news law that forces digital platforms to cut deals with publishing firms.

Google has said it will wait until the law is in place — expected by the end of the year — before it starts removing links to Canadian news from its platform.

Andy Stone, a spokesman for Meta, said in a tweet on Wednesday: "As we've always said, the law is based on a fundamentally flawed premise. And, regrettably, the only way we can reasonably comply is to end news availability in Canada."

A statement on Facebook's blog on 1 August said: "In order to comply with the Online News Act, we have begun the process of ending news availability in Canada.

"These changes start today, and will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks.

Federal Government advertising with Facebook and Instagram was suspended on 6 July, though no such ban was adopted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party.

The Online News Act, also known as C-18, was approved by the Senate, the upper chamber of the Canadian parliament, on 29 June. It was later passed by the lower chamber.

Australians have seen something similar play out a few years ago. When the Australian Government tried to push through its News Media Bargaining Code in 2021, digital platforms, chiefly Facebook and Google, lined up in opposition.

The code was derived from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Digital Platforms Inquiry report which was handed to the government in June 2019.

Today we've begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. Changes will roll out over a few weeks.

As we've always said, the law is based on a fundamentally flawed premise. And, regrettably, the only way we can reasonably comply is to end news availability in Canada. https://t.co/OtpxOW1eUp

— Andy Stone (@andymstone) August 1, 2023

Negotiations between digital platforms and news organisations went on for a while, with the provisions for the code being passed into law in February 2021.

But there was plenty of resistance from the digital platforms and though Google took a more low-key stance, Facebook upped the ante and blocked the ingress of news content into Australia.

The government hurried to placate Facebook and made numerous changes to the legislation after which the social media company reversed its block on content.

Update, 5 August: Contacted for comment, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, said: "This is irresponsible. Facebook knows they have no obligations under the Act right now. They have not participated in the regulatory process.

"They would rather block their users from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organisations. Google and Facebook earn 80% of all digital advertising revenue in Canada.

"Meanwhile, hundreds of newsrooms have closed. A free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy, and Canadians expect tech giants to follow the law in our country.

"The world is watching Canada. Other countries are looking at introducing similar legislation to tackle the same challenges. Canada is standing up to Facebook for the right reasons.

"Facebook is trying to send a message, not only to Canada, but to other countries like New Zealand, the UK, and the US. We're going to keep standing our ground. After all, if the government can't stand up for Canadians against tech giants, who will?"

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