The National Assembly of Quebec (ANQ) in turn announced on Thursday the suspension of all its advertising placements on Facebook and Instagram.
The institution has thus followed in the footsteps of several media companies and governments which have taken the decision to sever their advertising links with the Meta company, which operates these social media.
“Following Meta’s decision to block all Canadian journalistic content on Facebook and Instagram, the National Assembly of Quebec is suspending all of its advertising placements on Meta,” the ANQ said in a statement.
Current placements will be withdrawn and no new advertising will be broadcast on these platforms until further notice, the institution said.
“This measure aims to form a common front with the media and promote Quebec democracy by promoting access to information,” said the ANQ.
The governments of Quebec and Canada announced Wednesday the withdrawal of their advertisements on social media from Meta, which challenges a federal law requiring it to compensate the Canadian media whose content it broadcasts.
To mark its opposition, the American company announced its intention to exclude links to media news sites in the country.
In response, several news outlets stopped buying advertising on the company’s social media.
Call for boycott
The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) also announced Thursday that it is cutting ties with Meta.
“Today we are sending an unequivocal message to all companies and invite them to join the boycott of Meta,” CCMM president Michel Leblanc said in a press release. No one is above our laws. »
According to the CCMM, the business community is mobilized to ask companies like Meta to respect the provisions of federal law C-18.
“Meta has decided to engage in a showdown by withdrawing completely from the discussions and by removing Canadian media content from its platforms,” said Mr. Leblanc. For us, this strategy is an affront to the decision of a democratically elected government, which works in the interest of the Canadian economy. »