(OTTAWA) Meta is set to block news articles for some of its Canadian users on its Facebook and Instagram social networks as part of a temporary trial expected to last most of June.
The company says it wants to resolve some potential technical issues before permanently blocking news content on its platforms when the Online News Act of the Liberal government will come into effect.
The bill, which is currently before the Senate, will require digital giants to compensate news outlets when they create links or redirect their content on their networks.
Meta says the test will affect up to 5% of its 24 million users in Canada.
The American company points out that affected users, who will be chosen at random, will not be able to see certain content, including news links as well as “lives”, which are short videos, and “stories”, which are photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours.
Meta will also randomly choose certain media which will be informed that certain users will not be able to see or share their news content throughout the test.