AUGUST 23, 2023:
(AP) and (NAFB) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Facebook of putting profits over people’s safety during Canada’s wildfire emergencies.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced earlier this summer (June 1, 2023) it would block news content in Canada on its platforms in order to comply with a new law requiring tech giants to pay publishers for linking to, or otherwise repurposing, their content online.
Fires raging in Canada have pushed thousands from their homes and Trudeau says Facebook is choosing to put corporate profits ahead of ensuring that local news organizations can provide up to date information to Canadians via Facebook or Instagram.
While many large, national news outlets are applauding the Act, some smaller players say the fallout will be devastating for regional, local and rural news outlets.
David Beers is editor of The Tyree, a provincial digital news magazine based in British Columbia.
“If Canadian news content is blocked on Meta and Google, Google being the main search engine that most people use, and Meta being a major sharing platform, why would anybody start up an online news organization ever again in Canada?”
Australia was faced with this situation in 2021. Stephen Scheeler is a Canadian who lives in Australia and currently heads up an artificial intelligence research company. Scheeler was also CEO of Facebook Australia and New Zealand up until 2017. He explains how the Australian government came to have a deal with the online tech giants.
“What happened was, the code was coming in, Facebook said we’re going to play hardball here, so they shut down news on Australia on the Facebook site. We were in a fire season at that time and the emergency services were being affected by this. So, it was seen as very irresponsible by Facebook. The politicians and the government jumped on it. Eventually they did get to a point where they came to a deal.”
Canada’s Online News Act aims to be more transparent than the existing Australian code of practice. Scheeler says that while their code is working there has been criticism, especially in the rural areas.
“The bargaining code that was brought in actually has never been activated. It was really just a threat. If you don’t negotiate in good faith, pay them for news, we will force you to the table. That, alone, has now sparked dozens of deals here in Australia. There’s criticism of that system. Rural or small journalism aren’t included. And then there’s problems with transparency. Nobody really knows how much money’s being exchanged.”
Additionally, Canadians who use Google have been told by the search engine company of its plans to remove news content when Bill C-18, the Online News Act, goes into effect before the end of this year. The Act requires tech giants to enter into financial agreements that will compensate Canadian news outlets for content shared or repurposed on their platforms.
AUGUST 22, 2023:
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Facebook of putting profits over people’s safety during Canada’s wildfire emergencies. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced earlier this summer it would keep its promise to block news content in Canada on its platforms in response to a new law that requires tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online. Fires raging in Canada have pushed thousands from their homes and threatened a provincial capital hundreds of kilometers (miles) to the north. Trudeau say it is inconceivable that Facebook is choosing to put corporate profits ahead of insuring that local news organizations can get up to date information to Canadians.
Comments