After having twice told the Log during the day wednesday consider ” possible options” without committing to stop buying advertising on Facebook and Instagram like Quebecor, Cogeco and The Pressthe state-owned company changed its mind in the evening and indicated that it was also suspending purchases on these platforms.
• Read also: Ottawa suspends buying of ads on Meta
• Read also: Blocking of news: Quebecor and Cogeco cease their advertising placements on Meta
“We are closely monitoring this situation and we are currently considering the possible options”, replied during the day Leon Mar, institutional spokesperson for Radio-Canada when The newspaper asked if the state-owned company will also stop buying ads on Facebook-Instagram.
“For imperatives related to competition, we cannot disclose this information,” we were limited to saying.
But at 6:45 p.m., an alert from CBC/Radio-Canada confirmed that the Crown corporation was finally following suit.
Threat from the web giants
Earlier, Radio-Canada’s Director General of Information, Luce Julien, said that “Google and Meta must drop their threat to block access to news produced by Canadian media.”
“Meta had US$118 billion (CA$156 billion) in revenue in 2021. Google posted advertising revenue of US$209 billion (CA$276 billion) in the same year,” she said. underline.
Recall that Radio-Canada had $ 1.1 billion in public funds for its operating activities if we rely on its annual report 2021-2022.
- Listen to Alexandre Dubé’s interview with Jean-Hugues Roy, professor at the School of Media at the University of Quebec in Montreal via QUB-radio:
Ottawa is on the move
In protest against threats from Facebook and Instagram, the federal government announced midday Wednesday that it was suspending ad buying on Meta, which wants to block journalistic content as soon as the Online News Act comes into effect.
On Wednesday morning, Quebecor and Cogeco had started the ball rolling by announcing in turn that they would stop buying advertising on Facebook and Instagram, nearly a week after the blocking of journalistic news on Meta platforms. The Press subsequently followed.
- Listen to the economic column with Francis Gosselin via QUB-radio :
“Quebecor also encourages businesses, governments and institutions to express their disagreement to Meta with this total affront to public policy and the news media by making consistent advertising placement choices,” said Pierre Karl Péladeau, CEO. of Quebecor, owner of the Montreal Journal and Quebec newspaper.