June 27, 2023
Meta Platforms plans to cut off access to news on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada once a new law requiring internet giants to pay news publishers takes effect.
The Canadian parliament passed “Bill C-18” into law, requiring internet giants to pay news publishers. The Online News Act forces platforms like Facebook and Alphabet’s Google to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content.
Both Meta and Google had warned they would withdraw access to news articles on their platforms in Canada if the legislation is passed into law without amendments. Facebook says links to news articles make up less than 3% of the content on its users’ feed, and that journalists benefit from posting their work on the social media platform.
Google has argued Canada’s law is broader than those enacted in Australia and Europe, and puts a price on news story links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that do not produce news.
Google proposed that the bill be revised to make the displaying of news content, rather than links, as the basis for payment and to specify that only businesses that produce news and adhere to journalistic standards are eligible to receive payments.
The law is set to take effect on January 1, 2024.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
