Media Revenue Sharing | Meta stepping up the pressure

(OTTAWA) The absence of news content on Facebook is starting to be noticed by users, days before the final passage of Bill C-18 on the revenue sharing of the Internet giants. However, if access to news is permanently cut once the law is in force, Meta will not have to enter into agreements with the media.

Many Facebook users in Quebec posted screenshots of the message appearing on their feed on Tuesday. “This content is not visible in Canada, it is written in large letters. In response to Canadian government legislation, news content cannot be displayed in Canada. It is followed by a button that can be clicked to find out more.

“Threats carried out,” denounced the president and chief executive of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau, on Twitter. He reported that the Facebook pages of the Quebec newspaperof Montreal Journal and TVA Nouvelles, “like those of other Canadian media, are blocked from their content by Meta in retaliation for Bill C-18”, and invited people to get information directly on media platforms instead of try to access it through the social network.

The Press is also affected by this measure, confirmed a user who was unable to access the daily content on his Facebook page. “For me, it is socially irresponsible to exclude quality news, collected and produced by professional information organizations in a world as we know today where there is false information of all stripes, any side, “reacted the president of The PressPierre-Elliott Levasseur, in an interview.

He sees this as further proof “of the abuse of power exercised by the digital giants because of their monopoly”.

Meta opposes Bill C-18, which concluded clause-by-clause consideration in the Senate on Tuesday. Its final version could therefore be adopted by Thursday. This new law would force web giants Meta and Google to compensate news media for publishing their content. They would have six months to reach revenue-sharing agreements after it takes effect.

Both accuse Canada of harming the free Internet by imposing a price on hyperlinks and argue that it is the media that benefit from the visibility offered by its platforms.

One of 12 amendments passed in the Senate on Tuesday recognizes that media outlets also derive a benefit when their content is delivered on digital platforms and that the value of that benefit should be part of negotiations for revenue-sharing agreements. However, this amendment proposed by Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne risks being rejected by the government.

“Random” tests like in Australia

Meta had previously threatened to temporarily cut off access to news on two platforms, Facebook and Instagram, and to apply this measure permanently when C-18 is passed. She had indicated that these “tests” would begin on June 2, but they had been little noticed until today.

“The tests are completely random,” said Meta spokesperson in Canada, Lisa Laventure. They should reach between 240,000 and 1.2 million users throughout the month. The company 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.

“This is unacceptable and we will not allow this intimidation to work,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated. We will always be there to defend Canadians’ access to news. It is fundamental to our democracy. »

“They are trying to intimidate senators because it happens at exactly the same time that the bill has just come out of the Senate committee and it is completely unacceptable”, was indignant in turn the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pablo Rodríguez.

A loop-hole

However, the bill contains a loophole. Meta will not have to make deals with the news media if it permanently cuts off access to news after Bill C-18 is passed, Rodriguez’s office confirmed. The government preferred a market-based solution rather than imposing what would have been perceived as a tax.

This is also what News Media Canada, which represents the industry, wanted. Its chairman and CEO, Paul Deegan, instead invites the government to put pressure in turn on the web giant by ceasing to buy advertising from it.

“Last year, the federal government spent $11 million on Facebook and Instagram and only $6 million on all print newspapers in the country. It’s almost twice as much,” he said in an interview.

Meta competes with the news media for the sale of advertising due to its significant ability to collect data about its users. Several companies have announced cutbacks in recent months, including Quebecor, the Coops de l’information, Global News and Postmedia, which owns the Montreal Gazette.