Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says Facebook is “taking a ‘very radical’ stance in trying to intimidate Canadians,” and accuses the Conservatives of siding with the American megacorporation.
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“I don’t think it’s going to work, the Canadians won’t let themselves be imposed. They tried the same method in Australia,” Rodriguez said in a press scrum on Wednesday morning.
Representatives of Meta, Facebook’s parent company, have subtly threatened the government that Canadian journalistic content could be removed from the platform if the government goes ahead with its law proposing to redistribute the profits raised at the expense of the media.
This is what happened in Australia when the government passed a law similar to the one Ottawa wants to pass. The backlash in public opinion had contributed to Facebook reinstating the blocked pages.
“My position is that they have my phone, my door is always open, that has always been my philosophy. If they want to talk, I’m ready to talk. The hand is outstretched,” said Mr. Rodriguez.
Rodriguez wouldn’t comment on how the federal government would react if Facebook followed through on its threats.
A skewer of Liberal MPs came out on Tuesday to denounce Meta’s behavior in this matter.
Liberal MP Chris Bittle said Facebook would “shoot itself in the foot” if it decided to remove content from Canadian media.