Three-quarters of Canadians are unaware of the news blocking on Facebook and Instagram, but the vast majority of users of these platforms continue to rely on them for their news, meaning they are exposed to a more biased and less factual view of politics and news without really realizing it.
These are some of the conclusions reached by McGill University’s Media Ecosystem Observatory after analyzing the consequences of news blocking by Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, a year ago.
Influencers, politicians, friends and family
“We know that there are no more links to news on these platforms, but a large proportion of Canadians think on the contrary that when they use Facebook or Instagram, they can still obtain information on politics and current events,” notes, not without surprise, the director of the observatory and principal author of the report, Aengus Bridgman.
“But very often it’s not source news,” he continues. “It’s just influencers, politicians, other accounts, friends or family who share information.”
Sharing news despite blocking
However, among other findings from the investigation, the researchers note that there is still some sharing of news that continues despite Meta’s efforts to block it, “with copy-pasted article text or a screenshot [de la manchette] or with a link to X (formerly Twitter) where the article is located,” Bridgman says.
The researchers also note that the number of links to news sites has collapsed since the block, implemented on August 9, 2023, with a tiny portion of links leading to third-party sites that redirect the user to an article. However, the amount of screenshots of headlines has exploded in parallel, with Facebook and Instagram’s technology unable to distinguish them from other photos.
The law could apply
In other words, some users circumvent the blockage in various ways, so that there continues to be news shared on these platforms.
However, the goal of blocking news on Meta’s platforms was to avoid Canadian law that would require it to pay royalties to media outlets. This attempt, according to the researcher, is a failure.
“Meta and Google have tried to say that if they do not share direct links to media websites, they are not subject to this legislation, but our study shows very clearly that content continues to be shared and, if we look at the legislation, it is not written that a link is required. [vers les nouvelles]. It says ‘facilitate access’. So yes, clearly, news is still being shared on these platforms,” Bridgman says.
This reality could provide leverage for lawmakers to try again to force Meta’s hand and force the giant to pay royalties, but such a decision has yet to be made.
Hard blow for the media
The report, titled “Old News, New Reality: A Year of Meta’s News Ban in Canada,” also paints a grim picture of the effects of the decision on the media themselves, particularly smaller ones.
For example, Canadian media outlets have lost 85% of their engagement on Facebook and Instagram – not 100% because, on the one hand, media outlets can still publish on these platforms and their content can be read outside the country and, on the other hand, because some continue to send users to news sites through backdoor means.
But because the loss was not offset by a shift of Internet users to the three other major platforms that still broadcast news (YouTube, X and TikTok), the researchers conclude that there was an overall 43% drop in Internet user engagement with news media on social networks in general.
The little ones are more severely affected
One nuance, however, that is not found in this report: the major French-language media in Quebec generally claim to be doing well with growing traffic to their websites.
However, several local and hyperlocal media have simply disappeared from social networks. The observation is alarming: no less than 212 local media, or about 30% of those that were previously active on social media, have now disappeared from the platforms.
“In many cases, Facebook was their only platform,” says Aengus Bridgman. “A few small local media outlets and some small indigenous media outlets have closed down. We know there’s a complete loss of their content, but we don’t know how much there is.”
Loss of 11 million views per day
Canadians are consuming less news, which is equally concerning. “Overall,” the report says, “Canadians are simply seeing less news online as a result of the blockage – an estimated 11 million views per day on Instagram and Facebook. Canadians are still getting their news about politics and current events through Facebook and Instagram, but through a more biased and less factual lens than before.”
“Many of them do not even realize the change that has taken place. They do not seem to seek information elsewhere,” we can also read there.
The researchers analyzed and compared content from the five platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X) during the periods of May 26 to June 19 of 2023 and 2024. They also conducted a survey of 1,463 Canadian adults between July 24 and 30, 2024. The margin of error in a probability survey of this magnitude is plus or minus 2.6%, 19 times out of 20.