Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy Comments on Meta’s Decision to Block News for Some Canadians
June 2, 2023
MONTREAL, Quebec – Meta has announced it will block Canadians from accessing news content on Facebook and Instagram. According to an announcement shared by the Big Tech company last night, these “product tests” will impact nearly 5% of Canadian Facebook and Instagram users.
The move follows a similar move by Google earlier this year, when Google limited Canadian and international news from being displayed to nearly 4% of Canadian users. Both Big Tech companies have admitted that these actions are a response to the government’s proposed Bill C-18, also known as the Online News Act.
C-18 looks to “rebalance the power dynamics in the digital news marketplace in order to ensure fair compensation for Canadian media outlets and journalists” and if it passes the current reading in the Senate, could be made into law as early as this summer.
The following can be attributed to Taylor Owen, Founding Director at the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University:
“Canada is not the only jurisdiction in the world considering this type of policy to address the asymmetries in the digital news marketplace between Big Tech platforms, or news intermediaries, and news publishers. If C-18 passes and is seen as working in Canada then it paves the way for other regions to take similar regulatory action, and that clearly makes Meta nervous. So nervous, in fact, that they are willing to issue similar threats to those that proved so damaging to democratic society in Australia.”
The following can be attributed to Frances Haugen, Senior-Fellow-in-Residence at the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University:
“Meta’s decision to block news for Canadians, on the heels of a similar threat to Californians, illustrates a broader pattern of behaviour among social media companies where they place profit before the well-being of their users. This type of unilateral decision about what type of content users get to see is precisely why we need to demand stronger transparency rules when it comes to the decisions made at companies like Meta. Google did this same thing in Canada earlier this year, was condemned for it by Canadian officials across party lines, and then Meta was able to do the same a few months later. It truly underscores how these Big Tech platforms operate with a sense of impunity. Something has to change.”
Additional resources
Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, joins McGill’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy: McGill Reporter (May 8, 2023)
The Online News Act keeps journalism alive while it adapts to a new world: Taylor Owen for The Hub (November 8, 2022)
Canada’s Online News Act shows how other countries are learning from Australia’s news bill: Taylor Owen and Supriya Dwivedi for the Nieman Lab at Harvard University (August 9, 2022)
About the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at McGill University
The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy produces critical research, policy advocacy, and inclusive events that inform public debates about the changing relationship between media and democracy, and that ground policy aimed at maximizing the benefits and minimizing the systemic harms embedded in the design and use of emerging technologies. www.mediatechdemocracy.com
Media Relations
Phaedra de Saint-Rome
phaedra.desaint-rome@mcgill.ca
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