(OTTAWA) News media content will no longer be available at all to all of its 24 million Canadian Facebook and Instagram users. Meta made the announcement Thursday afternoon about an hour after Bill C-18 passed the Senate. This decision is denounced from all sides as an attack on democracy.
“Today we are confirming that the availability of news on Facebook and Instagram will be terminated for all users in Canada prior to the coming into force of the Online News Act (Bill C-18),” said know the web giant in his blog.
“Facebook knows very well that at this time it has no obligation under the law,” Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said in a written statement. Following Royal Assent of Bill C-18, the government will engage in a regulatory and enforcement process. If the government can’t defend Canadians against the web giants, who will? »
The government had accepted a Senate amendment earlier this week that the law would not come into force until six months after receiving royal assent. Canadian Heritage and the Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will also have to develop regulations, in particular to establish the framework for negotiations between the parties.
The web giant had already started blocking news content since the beginning of the month for a limited number of users, indicating that it was a random “test” to assess how it would adapt its platforms if it decided to change. apply this measure permanently. Between 240,000 and 1.2 million users already no longer had access to news content.
“This is an attack on our democracy, denounced the president of La Presse, Pierre-Elliott Levasseur, in an interview. It doesn’t make any sense. Facebook does not produce any content, it is a distribution platform that was built, among other things, on the backs of credible media. »
“It is deplorable, even odious, that Meta is using its dominant position to block access to media information from here, thus holding subscribers in Canada hostage,” reacted in turn the President and CEO of Quebecor, Pierre Karl Péladeau. We invite the entire population to get information directly from the source. »
Meta had used the same tactic in Australia in 2021, blocking news content from being shared on Facebook. After a few days, she had come to an agreement with the government.
“We call on the government not to bow to intimidation and to immediately suspend its advertising purchases on Facebook and Instagram,” Bloc Québécois MP Martin Champoux said in writing. Elected officials have done their job in passing C-18, Meta must now understand that we will stand up to keep our media healthy. »
“A frontal attack on democracy and the media,” Parti Québécois MP Pascal Bérubé wrote on Twitter. The Government of Quebec and “all parties must commit to ceasing all sponsorship on Facebook and Instagram to reinvest these sums in our local weeklies and radio stations”, he added, specifying that the Parti Québécois was ready to do so. TO DO.
The president of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ), Michael Nguyen, also invited elected officials not to give in to blackmail.
On its blog, Meta argues that it will continue to fight misinformation and has the “largest global fact-checking network of any platform” which includes “over 90 independent fact-checking organizations” across the globe. the world.
“The reality is that the company contributes little or nothing to Canada,” NDP MP Peter Julian said in an interview. They pay almost no taxes. They took away millions of dollars in profits without making a contribution to our society and it’s time for that to stop. »
He argued that Bill C-18 had strong support from the House of Commons – only the Conservatives voted against it. He added that the European Union and California also want internet giants to act responsibly.
The Conservatives did not respond to our requests on Thursday.
Google and Meta accuse Canada of harming free internet by imposing a price on hyperlinks. Google, which considers C-18 unenforceable, would not say on Thursday whether it plans to cut news access again. The company says it is “urgently seeking to work with the government.”
“We are doing everything in our power to avoid an outcome that no one wants,” spokesperson Shay Purdy said. At each step, we offered thoughtful and pragmatic solutions that would have improved the bill and paved the way for increasing our already significant investments in Canada’s information ecosystem. So far, none of our concerns have been addressed. »
Meta has already reached agreements with 18 media, including Le Devoir, the six Coops de l’information dailies and the Toronto Star in 2021. Le Devoir and the Coops de l’information declined to comment.