Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will block Canadian media on its social networks

The social media giant is tightening the screw. Facebook and Instagram will block access to posts from Canadian media outlets, their parent company Meta said Thursday (June 22nd) in response to a just-passed law that forces web giants to pay to carry local media content. Meta claims to have warned “Many times” that this action would be taken.

“If the government can’t defend Canadians against the internet giants, who will?”, reacted the Canadian Minister of Heritage Pablo Rodriguez. Facebook had no “no obligation” to cut off this access, as the law has not yet formally entered into force, he added.

A law to protect the media

The new Canadian law obliges digital giants to enter into fair trade agreements with Canadian media to publish their content on their platforms, or risk having to resort to binding arbitration.

Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed Meta for blocking some Canadians’ access to online information, saying the company was “deeply irresponsible and disconnected” by refusing to pay journalists for their work.

More than 450 Canadian news outlets have closed since 2008, according to the Department of Heritage. This bill is inspired by the one adopted in 2021 by Australia, the first of its kind in the world. Faced with the same situation, the European Union introduced in 2019 a “neighboring right” which should allow the remuneration of press publishers for the content used by online platforms. After reluctantly, Google signed agreements with French newspapers in November, a world first.