In a blog post on Friday, Meta said it will begin tests on Facebook and Instagram to limit some users and publishers from viewing or sharing some news content in Canada in response to Canada’s Online News Act proposal.
The test comes after a week of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, threatening to pull news content in California if the state passes a similar bill, the California Journalism Preservation Act.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone tweeted a statement that the company “will be forced to remove news from Facebook and Instagram” if the bill is passed.
Meta’s statement slammed the bill as creating a “slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers.”
Despite the threat from Meta, though, California’s bill passed out of the Assembly in a 46-6 vote. It will head to the state Senate next.
The bill would require tech platforms that distribute news content to pay outlets for it.
It’s a tactic Meta debuted roughly two years ago in Australia.
Facebook restricted access to news links in Australia as the nation’s government proceeded with a bill that required dominant platforms like Facebook and Google to pay outlets for distributing their news.
The social media platform reversed course after last-minute negotiations and an amendment that added additional time for platforms and publishers to negotiate before a forced arbitration.
In December, Meta made a similar threat in the face of U.S. legislation. Amid reports that the controversial Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) would be added to a defense authorization bill, Stone tweeted that if the bill was passed the platform would be “forced to consider removing news from our platform altogether.”
The JCPA was reintroduced in the Senate this year with additional sponsors.
Read more about the playbook Meta is using as the proposals inch forward in a story at TheHill.com this weekend.
