Ottawa says it will pull advertising from Facebook and Instagram amid a dispute with Meta, the parent company of the social media giants. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez made the announcement Wednesday. Quebec and the City of Montreal quickly followed suit.
This comes after Canada passed its Online News Act that would require Meta to pay publishers for linking or repurposing their content.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the fact Meta will choose to block Canadian news content, rather than pay up, is bullying.
“Tech giants like Meta, even as they are making record profits… billions upon billions of dollars of profits…are refusing to make sure that media and local news are getting properly paid,” Trudeau said. “We need to stand up for democracy…we need to stand up for people’s rights and abilities to access news.”
Meanwhile, Meta says it’s the publishers who are posting links on their platforms at their own benefit, to drive traffic to their websites. They say news is just a small reason why users use their social media.
Google also says it will block Canadian news content when the bill takes effect in six months but remain in talks.
It should be another six months before regulations start rolling out.
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