Meta to permanently remove news from Facebook, Instagram within weeks
Canadians’ Facebook feeds will look a lot more different in the next few weeks.
Meta announced on Tuesday that it has officially begun the process of “ending news availability in Canada” on its social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Meta communications director Andy Stone says the changes will roll out over a few weeks.
This is in response to controversial legislation introduced by the Liberal government called Bill C-18, or the Online News Act.
“As we’ve always said, the law is based on a fundamentally flawed premise. And, regrettably, the only way we can reasonably comply is to end news availability in Canada,” he tweeted.
Today we’ve begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. Changes will roll out over a few weeks.
As we’ve always said, the law is based on a fundamentally flawed premise. And, regrettably, the only way we can reasonably comply is to end news availability in Canada. https://t.co/OtpxOW1eUp
— Andy Stone (@andymstone) August 1, 2023
The law, which will come into force in about five months, requires tech giants like Meta and Google to pay news organizations for linking to or repurposing their content online.
This final push from Meta comes after the Canadian government pulled advertising from Facebook and Instagram last month.
Daily Hive has reached out to Canada’s new Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge for comment.
Last month, former Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez doubled down on the government’s decision.
“We cannot continue paying advertising dollars to Meta while they refuse to pay their fair share to Canadian news organizations,” he tweeted.
We have decided to take the necessary step of suspending all Government of Canada advertising to Facebook.
We cannot continue paying advertising dollars to Meta while they refuse to pay their fair share to Canadian news organizations.
— Pablo Rodriguez (@pablorodriguez) July 5, 2023
This back-and-forth between the Canadian government and the tech giant has been happening since the controversial bill was proposed.
Google has also confirmed that it will be blocking local news in Canada due to the divisive law.
Experts in the news industry have been sounding the alarm on the repercussions of this bill.
Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, says that Facebook blocking news content will “disproportionately hurt smaller and independent media outlets and leave the field to poorer quality sources.”
Even though the bill has become law, it won’t take effect for a few months.
The Department of Canadian Heritage will now draft specific regulations and provide guidance on implementing it.