The call to boycott Facebook last Friday in solidarity with Quebec media obtained mixed results. While there was a notable drop in posts on the social network during the day, interactions did not decline as significantly. Not enough, at least, for us to conclude beyond any doubt that users followed the movement.
“Among people who administer Facebook pages in Quebec, the boycott was still successful. The figures suggest that many refrained from sharing content on Friday. It was not a public holiday: there is no reason other than the boycott that could explain such a drop. But among Facebook users, it is true that the initiative does not seem to have had much impact,” summarizes Jean-Hugues Roy, professor of journalism at the UQAM Media School.
Jean-Hugues Roy was interested in the activity on Facebook in Quebec last Friday, when the population was invited to refrain from using the platform for the day. He then compared the figures with those of the previous six Fridays, based on a sample of the 300,000 most popular Facebook posts since the 1er august.
Ultimately, he noted during the day of September 15 a 15% decrease in publications made on Facebook compared to the average of the previous six weeks. Interactions were also down, although in a much less clear way, showing a decline of just under 7% compared to Fridays in previous weeks.
What solidarity?
Are Quebecers really in solidarity with the fate of Quebec media? No doubt many are happy to no longer see news on their Facebook feed, and others may not have noticed that the news media were blocked, recognizes Jean-Hugues Roy.
“Seven percent is still a lot, it’s money that Meta is losing,” Michaël Nguyen, president of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ), emphasizes. “We never claimed that we could turn Meta back with just one day. We know that it’s difficult for Facebook users to go without it for an entire day. The aim was above all to raise awareness among the population, because Meta creates a lot of misinformation,” he explains, before adding that other initiatives will be organized in the coming weeks.
The FPJQ and the Quebec Society of Public Relations Professionals (SQPRP) are at the origin of the “day without Meta” last Friday in support of the news media. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has been blocking access to Canadian media since the beginning of August in protest over the adoption of Bill C-18, the Online News Act. This federal law, which only officially comes into force in December, forces Web giants to negotiate agreements with different press outlets for the sharing of revenues from their publications.
“We know that Meta loses money by blocking Canadian media. But these are peanuts for them. The goal of this maneuver is to dissuade states that are larger than Canada from adopting similar laws,” insists Michaël Nguyen.
No question of folding
The president of the FPJQ remains fundamentally favorable to the law passed by the Trudeau government, even if, for the moment, it has caused the opposite of what it was adopted for.
The Online News Act was intended to financially strengthen news media, which have been facing a decline in advertising revenue since the emergence of social networks. However, for the moment, Meta’s decision in response to the law has the effect of depriving the media of important visibility. In 2022, half of Quebecers aged 25 to 35 obtained their information mainly through social networks, according to the Academy of Digital Transformation at Laval University.
“We must not give in to Meta. Will this require amendments to the law? Maybe we haven’t gotten there yet. I see that people are attacking the law to denounce the current situation. But it’s playing into Meta’s hands to do that. The decision to block the news was theirs alone to make. It’s not the government, it’s not the journalists,” thunders Michaël Nguyen of the FPJQ.
Joined by The dutythe Meta company did not comment on the boycott day last Friday.