OTTAWA – Facebook has raised the ire of the government and the media by blocking Quebec news sites, just as the law that would force the web giants to pay the media for their content is a hair’s breadth away from being adopted in the Senate .
• Read also: Ottawa must stop buying Facebook ads, say the Bloc and the NDP
“It’s an attack on democracy, it’s an attempt to intimidate. They are trying to intimidate a sovereign government that makes decisions, they are trying to intimidate senators,” responded Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez.
“This is unacceptable and we will not allow this intimidation to work,” added Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pointing out that the web giants are recording record profits while the media is scratching the bottom of drawers.
The Facebook pages of The Pressof Montreal Journal, of Quebec newspaperand TVA Nouvelles have all been blocked for certain users since this morning.
A “means of protest not to pay their fair share”, raged the president and CEO of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau.
Photo archives QMI Agency, Dominik Gravel
Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage. DOMINIK GRAVEL / QMI AGENCY
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has thus carried out its threat even as senators this morning brought amendments to Bill C-18 which promises to oblige it to share its staggering advertising revenues with the media.
Adopted in the House of Commons in December, the bill passed second reading in the Senate this morning. Accepted with amendments, it will now move on to a third reading before being sent back to the Commons. The senators are also confident that it will be adopted before the end of the parliamentary session, scheduled for June 23.
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Press bosses from all walks of life have stepped up public outings in recent weeks to press for the adoption of the legislation before the summer holidays.
For the bosses of Hebdos Québec, which distributes 10.3 million copies of local newspapers in the province each year, passing this law would “preserve local news”.
- Listen to the interview with Michaël Nguyen, president of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec on Yasmine Abdelfadel’s show via QUB-radio :
Benoît Chartier and Sylvain Poisson point out that their weeklies “are essential to democratic vitality” and that “outside major centres, they are often the only ones to play such a role”.
They therefore contradict Meta, who argues that the law would “primarily benefit broadcasters – not local and regional newspapers.”
matter of survival
The American giant has been threatening for months to block information content, just like Google, if C-18 is adopted. For the director of Duty, Brian Myles, this could have adverse effects, because “we need the strength of these platforms to amplify our content and reach users where they are”.
But, for the president of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ), Michael Nguyen, we must not give in to blackmail.
“By choosing to carry out its threats, Meta has revealed its game: that of a foreign company which does not care about the public’s right to information and which only seeks profit, even if it is at the expense of democracy. Meta is aware that disinformation is more profitable and has made its choice,” he denounced.
Chris Pedigo, of the organization Digital Content Next, which represents more than 60 influential media, including the New York Times and Bloomberg, is also calling on Ottawa not to be intimidated.
He recalls that over the past decade, the web giants have monopolized 80% to 90% of advertising revenues, completely suffocating newsrooms.
- Listen to the provincial and federal political column with Antoine Robitaille, host of the program Là-Haut sur la colline on QUB radio and Philippe-Vincent Foisy, host of the QUB radio morning show at the microphone of Benoit Dutrizac via QUB-radio :
“For some media, their financial health is at stake,” said independent senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, who passed an amendment requiring web giants to reach an agreement with the media within six months of the adoption of the law in order to force rapid negotiations.
In May 2022, a Pollara Strategic Insights poll indicated that 80% of Canadians supported the passage of Bill C-18.