Meta is all set to follow through and block Canadians from sharing news on their platform. This comes after the Canadian federal government passed a new law that mandates digital forms pay domestic media organisations for their content. In a statement, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, 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.”
Also Read: WhatsApp plans to add Meta Quest compatibility, adds support for Ray-Ban Stories
This new law is known as the Online News Act. It is part of a broader effort by the Canadian government to regulate the digital world and restrict the power vested in tech giants. This is not the only law that the government has passed. Earlier, it passed a law that directed streaming platforms like Netflix to promote Canadian content to their users in the country. This law, too, drew criticism.
It is also one of several other proposals that are being thought about globally to support struggling news businesses by requiring social media companies to bargain with media organisations for payment for the content that is shared on their networks. The emergence of the internet and companies like Facebook and Google have shattered the advertising income that had long supported media organisations’ businesses, leading them to urge that Silicon Valley titans should share more of their revenue with them.
A 2021 Australian law served as inspiration for Canada’s legislation. A similar plan is being considered in California. Meta has responded in a similar manner. Prior to California’s measure becoming law, it threatened to censor news and briefly censored news in Australia after that country’s law became law, sparking an outcry. After the government changed the law to give the platform more time to negotiate with publishers, Facebook gave in less than a week later. Both Facebook and Google have a deal with Australian news organisations to use their content on their platforms.
The law in Canada will compel tech giants to negotiate payments with media outlets in exchange for posting or linking to their content. If those talks break down, the parties must engage in binding arbitration to determine the proper compensation.
Back in 2021, Meta took action against around 2.5 crore posts on Facebook and 20 lakh posts on Instagram. The tech giant moved to take this action in order to comply with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Action was taken against 1.73 crore spam posts on Facebook. This was followed by action being taken against 27 lakh posts about “adult nudity and sexual activity” and 23 lakh posts about “violent and graphic content.” Then, 9.98 lakh pieces of content relating to “Dangerous Organisations and Individuals: Terrorism” were found by Meta on its own, and 99.8% of those postings were eventually taken down.
According to reports, Meta discovered that the majority of Instagram posts were in breach of its rules regarding “suicide and self-injury” content, followed by “adult nudity and sexual activity” and “violent and graphic content-related posts.”
Also Read: Meta to allow 10-year-old kids to use its Quest VR headset
Meanwhile, Google maintains that by driving visitors to publishers’ websites, it offers enormous value to them. The company has met with Canadian regulators multiple times. Richard Gingras, vice president of Google’s news division, referred to the provision in his statement as an “unlimited subsidy for Canadian media.” According to Google spokeswoman Jenn Crider, the company is “doing everything we can to avoid an outcome that no one wants.” The law, in her words, is “unworkable.”
