The House of Commons in Ottawa is currently working on Bill C-18 which, if passed, would force web giants like Facebook or Google “to enter into fair compensation agreements with media companies for the sharing of their journalistic content”1.
But now the two giants are brandishing the threat of removing all journalistic content from their platforms, deeming it unfair that their untouchable status is being attacked for a rare time in North America (which is done more regularly in Europe)
It should be noted that Google and Facebook have hegemonic statuses in their respective fields of activity. Indeed, the Google search engine totaled 88% market share in Canada in 20202and Facebook had been used at least once in the past month by 77% of Canadians in the spring of 2018. This is far ahead of its closest pursuer, which is… Instagram, at 31% (owned by Meta, the mother of facebook)3.
Hegemonic status
This hegemonic status, however, is beginning to pose a problem, or should I say, the fact that it poses a problem is becoming more and more apparent. Indeed, according to Digital News Report 2022a cumulative 52% of Canadians got their news primarily either through news websites or apps (27%), or through social media (25%)4. You don’t have to rack your brains for long to understand that the hegemonic status of Google in the indexing of websites, and of Facebook as a social media poses a real risk to the circulation of information if they decide to withdraw any journalistic content from their platforms.
Addiction ?
But this saga also allows us to ask ourselves questions about our relationship to social media and news media. Indeed, what would remain on Facebook if there were no more news? Funny memes and videos I guess, but nothing very relevant per se. And would Google still be an interesting search engine if it were to exclude all journalistic content from its results? I doubt it, despite the recognized power of its algorithm (moreover fed in a dubious way by our personal data).
1 Saba, Michel, “Bill C-18 passed, Facebook reiterates its threat to withdraw the news”, Le Soleil, 14 December 2022, consulted on 14/03/2023, URL https://www.lesoleil.com/2022/12/14/le-projet-de-loi-c-18-adopte-facebook-reitere-sa-menace-de-retirer-les-nouvelles-3e297cbced3c6767acf0f0dc0bec33b2
2 Search the Web, UQÀM, accessed 03/14/2023, URL https://infosphere.uqam.ca/rechercher-linformation/chercher-web/
3 Brousseau-Pouliot, Vincent, “Who uses which social network in Canada?” », February 4, 2019, consulted on 03/14/2023, URL https://www.lapresse.ca/techno/reseaux-sociaux/201902/04/01-5213416-qui-utilisation-quel-reseau-social-au-canada.php
4 Center for Media Studies, A Look at News Practices in Canada | Digital News Report 2022, 2022, URL https://www.cem.ulaval.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cem_digital_news_report_2022_regard.pdf
We must never forget that we are not really dependent on Facebook or Google. We use these tools to meet our needs (whether to communicate and to have access to information). If Google or Facebook, out of rapacity, were to no longer meet our needs, all we would have to do is change the tool. Although these two giants seem indispensable to us after about two decades of use, they are not the only ones to offer the services they offer. Several more ethical alternatives are two clicks away on the Web.
Photo courtesy, Anna Tompkins
Jeremy Plamondon, Gatineau