Meta is planning to block news content on Facebook and Instagram in Canada because the country passed legislation requiring Big Tech companies to pay media outlets for news shared or repurposed on their platforms.
The clampdown on news north of the border comes as Meta is fighting to prevent similar laws in the U.S. Legislation was recently sidelined in Congress that would have given media outlets to have more power to negotiate advertising rates and content distribution with platforms such as Google and Facebook.
Canada‘s law is closer to the make-them-pay law adopted in Australia.
Meta also made threats to block news on its platforms in Australia in 2021 after the country passed legislation directing Big Tech to pay for news stories. Meta ultimately struck an agreement with the Australian government that ended its planned blockade of news.
Canada‘s Senate passed the Online News Act, also known as Bill C-18, on Thursday and Meta responded by announcing it would follow through on its plan to restrict the flow of information on its platforms.
“We are confirming that news availability will be ended on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada prior to the Online News Act (Bill C-18) taking effect,” Meta‘s announcement said. “We have repeatedly shared that in order to comply with Bill C-18, passed today in Parliament, content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada.”
Meta said it was already conducting product tests to develop an effective solution to end news on its platforms for Canada and its ongoing tests affect a small percentage of its Canadian users as of Thursday.
The Canadian government said its Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will oversee the implementation of the law, including the bargaining and negotiations that will result between cooperative Big Tech platforms and news publishers.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez heralded the Online News Act as a law that will ensure fair compensation for newsrooms across Canada.
“It levels the playing field by putting the power of Big Tech in check and ensuring that even our smallest news business can benefit through this regime and receive fair compensation for their work,” Mr. Rodriguez said in a statement.
While Canada‘s feud with Big Tech escalates, similar legislation has stalled at the federal level in the U.S.
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act last week, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy declared it dead in the House and Sen. Alex Padilla, California Democrat, said he would block its passage in the Senate.
The battle between lawmakers and Silicon Valley is continuing in California, however. The California State Assembly passed a state-specific version of the antitrust journalism legislation earlier this month.
The California bill’s passage came after Meta threatened it could remove news from Facebook and Instagram in the state.
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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