ZuckHub, a site allowing news content to be relayed on the various Meta platforms, went through the wrath of blocking on Thursday. Its creator, Maxime Larrivee-Roy, immediately responded with ZuckLePlouc.
“As expected, Facebook has just blocked ZuckHub. The response will arrive in the coming hours,” Mr. Larrivee-Roy wrote in the afternoon on his L’Actualité en memes page, which has more than 33,000 subscribers.
As in fact, less than an hour later ZuckLePlouc arrived, a site identical in every way to ZuckHub except that its domain name differs. “Back online,” wrote Mr. Lavallée-Roy, accompanying his message with a grimace, an assumed snub at the digital giant.
The way the site works is very simple: you just have to go there and copy the URL address of an article to generate a third-party link that can be shared on Facebook and Instagram, for example.
According to tests carried out by La Presse, ZuckLePlouc – just like ZuckHub before – worked for many Quebec media, but not all. In particular, it was possible to relay articles from La Presse, Le Devoir, Radio-Canada, Le Soleil and Quebecor media.
Bill C-18 on Online News receives Royal Assent. The same day, Meta announced its intention to block access to Canadian news on its platforms.
Google announces that it will also block access to Canadian news due to the adoption of Bill C-18. But the digital giant does not specify a date.
Meta begins blocking access to news. The Trudeau government calls this decision irresponsible.
The federal government publishes the regulations governing the Online News Act. Meta says these regulations don’t change the situation.
