(OTTAWA) News media content will no longer be available at all to all of its 24 million Canadian Facebook and Instagram users. Meta made the announcement Thursday afternoon about an hour after Bill C-18 passed the Senate. This decision is denounced from all sides as an attack on democracy.
“Today, we are confirming that the availability of news on Facebook and Instagram will be complete for all users in Canada before the entry into force of the Online News Act (Bill C-18),” said the web giant in its blog.
This new legislation will force web giants to compensate news media for publishing their content by negotiating revenue-sharing agreements. However, if access to news is permanently blocked once the law is in force, Meta will not have to enter into agreements with the media.
“Facebook knows full well that it currently has no legal obligation,” Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a written statement. Following Royal Assent of Bill C-18, the government will engage in a regulatory and enforcement process. If the government can’t defend Canadians against the web giants, who will? »
PHOTO JUSTIN TANG, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez
The government had accepted a Senate amendment earlier this week that the law would not come into force until six months after receiving royal assent. Canadian Heritage and the Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will also have to develop regulations, in particular to establish the framework for negotiations between the parties.
The web giant had already started blocking news content since the beginning of the month for a limited number of users, indicating that it was a random “test” to assess how it would adapt its platforms if it decided to change. apply this measure permanently. Between 240,000 and 1.2 million users already no longer had access to news content.
“It is an attack on our democracy, denounced the president of The Press, Pierre-Elliott Levasseur, in an interview. It doesn’t make any sense. Facebook does not produce any content, it is a distribution platform that was built, among other things, on the backs of credible media. »
“It is deplorable, even odious, that Meta is using its dominant position to block access to media information from here, thus holding subscribers in Canada hostage,” reacted in turn the president and chief executive officer of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau. We invite the entire population to obtain information directly from the source. »
Meta had used the same tactic in Australia in 2021, blocking news content from being shared on Facebook. After a few days, she had come to an agreement with the government.
“We are asking the government not to bow to intimidation and to immediately suspend its purchases of advertising on Facebook and Instagram,” said Bloc Québécois MP Martin Champoux in writing. Elected officials have done their job in passing C-18, Meta must now understand that we will stand up to keep our media healthy. »
“A frontal attack on democracy and the media,” wrote Parti Québécois MP Pascal Bérubé on Twitter. The Government of Quebec and “all parties must commit to ceasing all sponsorship on Facebook and Instagram to reinvest these sums in our weeklies and local radio stations”, he added, specifying that the Parti Québécois was ready to do so. TO DO.
The president of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ), Michael Nguyen, also invited elected officials not to give in to blackmail.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, PRESS ARCHIVES
Michael Nguyen
By blocking access to news in Canada, Meta is playing its trump card in the hope of continuing to reap huge profits on the backs of the media. Cutting access to news verified by information professionals opens the door even wider to misinformation, a scourge that plagues the world due to the lack of will of the digital giants to fight it. It is not by bending to their will that democracy will be able to advance.
Michael Nguyen, President of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ)
On its blog, Meta argues that it will continue to fight misinformation and that it has the “largest global fact-checking network of any platform” which includes “more than 90 independent fact-checking organizations” all over the world. the world.
“The reality is that the company contributes nothing or almost nothing to Canada,” NDP MP Peter Julian said in an interview. They pay almost no taxes. They took away millions of dollars in profits without making a contribution to our society and it’s time for that to stop. »
He argued that Bill C-18 received strong support from the House of Commons – only the Conservatives voted against it. He added that the European Union and California also want web giants to act responsibly.
The Conservatives did not respond to our requests on Thursday.
Google and Meta accuse Canada of harming free Internet by imposing a price on hyperlinks. Google, which considers C-18 unenforceable, would not say Thursday whether it plans to cut news access again. The company says it is “urgently seeking to work with the government”.
“We are doing everything in our power to avoid an outcome that no one wants,” said spokesperson Shay Purdy. At each step, we offered thoughtful and pragmatic solutions that would have improved the bill and paved the way for increasing our already significant investments in Canada’s information ecosystem. So far, none of our concerns have been addressed. »
Meta has already entered into agreements with 18 media, including The dutythe six Coops de l’information dailies and the Toronto Star in 2021. The duty and News Coops declined to comment.
With Bruno Marcotte, The Press