(Ottawa) The Liberal government maintains that Meta could be regulated under its Online News Actas Facebook and Instagram users find loopholes to share articles despite their ban.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) considers that it does not have enough information to make its decision, although it acknowledges reports that news is still available on both social networks.
Meta began blocking news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada after Parliament passed a law last summer that would have required the giant to compensate news outlets for displaying their content.
Since the block, social media users on both platforms have found ways to circumvent these measures; by sharing screenshots of news articles, copying the text of the articles into their posts, or sharing links to posts on social media X containing news links.
Even though the government operates independently of the CRTC, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge has maintained for months that Meta has not evaded legal regulations, given the circumventions of its users.
His office supported through a press release that the Online News Act may still apply to Meta, and that it will be up to the CRTC to determine
Meta argued that its removal of “news” as defined by the federal government means it does not need to provide compensation under the law.
What is covered by the law
The regulator stressed in a statement released Friday that it is the company’s responsibility to inform the CRTC if its status under the law changes.
He recalls that the Law does not provide for the regulator to control the types of content that the platforms make available to their users.
The CRTC acknowledges that reports claim news is still circulating about Meta, but the regulator maintains it would need more evidence to take further action.
When the Online News Act was being studied by a House of Commons committee, Canadian Heritage officials said the law would apply to tech giants if they facilitated the sharing of information links.
The law would not apply to companies if an excerpt from a news story or a quote from an article is shared there, officials ruled at a committee meeting in November 2022.
A year after the ban began, a new study shows that local media have seen a significant drop in readership, while Meta appears unaffected.
Overall, Canadians are seeing less information online, with an estimated reduction of 11 million views per day on Facebook and Instagram, according to the Media Ecosystem Observatory.
The research initiative, led by McGill University and the University of Toronto, received federal funding, but its researchers are independent from Ottawa.
Meta has not faced any explicit sanctions for blocking news in Canada, although top government officials have made their displeasure with the company known.
The Competition Bureau is examining whether the blocking violates competition laws.
Conservative Canadian heritage critic Rachael Thomas said in a statement that the Liberal government is responsible for the problems suffered by small, local and independent media.
She said a Conservative government would replace the law.