Accused of lacking solidarity with Quebec media, the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ) and Québec solidaire (QS) are temporarily suspending their advertising on Meta platforms.
The two political parties will join the one-day boycott on Friday to protest the multinational’s decision to block Canadian media content on all its platforms in retaliation for the adoption by the Canadian Parliament of Bill C -18 on online news. They will resume broadcasting on Saturday.
The Coalition Avenir Québec and the Parti Québécois have already decided to cut their advertising ties with Meta. In the last few days, they each attacked the decision of QS and the PLQ to remain on Facebook and Instagram, on the sidelines of a by-election moreover.
On Thursday, Prime Minister François Legault reiterated that his party would continue its advertising boycott of Meta until further notice. “That includes the partial vote in Jean-Talon,” he said, before once again attacking the solidarity and liberal positions. “I find it really deplorable that Québec solidaire — which should perhaps change its name — and the Quebec Liberal Party are not in solidarity with journalists, and then with the Quebec media. »
Tuesday, the interim leader of the PLQ, Marc Tanguay, stressed that it was important to continue to reach Quebecers, who are 88% on Facebook. Solidarity co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois justified himself by asserting that “symbolic gestures” would not force Meta to back down.
François Legault believes that pressure tactics of this type can work. “I think we can win this battle. I look at what happened in Australia. They managed to convince Meta to give hundreds of millions to the media. […] But the important thing is to be united,” he said on Thursday.
The day without Meta is, among other things, an initiative of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec. Last week, its president, Michaël Nguyen, raised the “dangers for society” posed by the blocking of media on platforms of such popularity.