ZuckHub, a site allowing news content to be relayed on the various Meta platforms, went through the wrath of blocking on Thursday. Its creator, Maxime Larrivee-Roy, immediately responded with ZuckLePlouc.
“As expected, Facebook has just blocked ZuckHub. The response will arrive in the coming hours,” Mr. Larrivee-Roy wrote in the afternoon on his L’Actualité en memes page, which has more than 33,000 subscribers.
As in fact, less than an hour later ZuckLePlouc arrived, a site identical in every way to ZuckHub except that its domain name differs. “Back online,” wrote Mr. Lavallée-Roy, accompanying his message with a grimace, an assumed snub to the digital giant.
The way the site works is very simple: you just have to go there and copy the URL address of an article for a third-party link to be issued which can be shared on Facebook and Instagram, for example.
According to tests carried out by The Press, ZuckLePlouc – just like ZuckHub before – worked for many Quebec media, but not all. In particular, it was possible to relay articles from The Press, of Dutyfrom Radio-Canada, from Sun and Quebecor media.
The story so far
June 22
Bill C-18 on online news receives royal assent. The same day, Meta announced its intention to block access to Canadian news on its platforms.
June 29
Google announces that it will also block access to Canadian news due to the adoption of Bill C-18. But the digital giant does not specify a date.
1er august
Meta begins blocking access to news. The Trudeau government calls this decision irresponsible.
1er september
The federal government publishes regulations governing the Online News Act. Meta says these regulations don’t change the situation.