Canadian officials condemn Facebook, Instagram news ban amid wildfires
Canadian officials are condemning Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for blocking the country’s news as wildfires rampage Western Canada.
A state of emergency was declared in West Kelowna, BC, due to the immense wildfire quickly spreading through the region.
And the Northwest Territories (NWT) is battling its own wildfires. It has become so severe that the provincial government has ordered the evacuation of all Yellowknife residents by today.
Unfortunately, due to Meta blocking news on Facebook and Instagram, wildfire evacuees are having difficulty staying up to date on the latest information.
On August 1, Meta said it had officially begun the process of “ending news availability in Canada” on its social media platforms.
Many Canadians were shocked to no longer see news accounts like Daily Hive, CTV, CBC, and even international sources like The New York Times on their feeds.
The negative impacts are evident in times of crisis leading Canadian officials to condemn the Facebook and Instagram news ban.
In a press conference on Friday addressing the wildfire in NWT, Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez asked Meta to reverse its decision.
“People don’t have access to information — information that is absolutely crucial,” he said in French.
Chris Bittle, Liberal MP for St. Catharines, Ontario, called Meta’s actions “reckless and irresponsible.”
Right now, while wildfires are causing evacuations in the NWT and endangering lives, Meta is blocking news about them on Facebook and Instagram.
They did this in Australia, and it made dangerous situations worse.
Meta’s actions to block news are reckless and irresponsible. https://t.co/4HJGCPvwMi
— Chris Bittle (@Chris_Bittle) August 17, 2023
“Having more information at your fingertips is so helpful,” Jessica Davey-Quantick, fire information officer for the NWT, told City News. “The fact that we can’t share those news sites is a concern.”
Other Canadians agree with this.
It is crazy that Facebook and meta have banned Canadian media on their platform during the worst wildfire season of all time.
— nupqu ʔa·kǂam̓ (@Skink00ts) August 18, 2023
Meanwhile, during the major #wildfires here in places such as #Yellowknife and #Kelowna, Meta/Facebook has apparently refused requests to temporarily relax its news blockade in Canada. Shame on the company.#BCWildfire
— Peter Vogel (@PeterVogel) August 18, 2023
Meta has blocked news on Facebook and Instagram in response to controversial legislation introduced by the Liberal government called Bill C-18, or the Online News Act.