Silicon Valley (with files from CBC/Canadian Press) – CBC reports that Meta (Facebook) has confirmed that it will end access to news on its social media sites for all Canadian users before Bill C-18, the Online News Act, comes into force.
The tech company made the announcement Thursday June 22, the day after Parliament passed Bill C-18. The law will force tech giants like Meta and Google to pay news outlets for posting their journalism on their platforms.
Meta said it will begin to block news for Canadian users over the next few months and the change will not be immediate.
“We have repeatedly shared that in order to comply with Bill C-18 … content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada,” said Meta in a media statement.
The bill is awaiting royal assent after passing both the House and the Senate. Once it receives assent, it should take six months to come into force.
We (Meta) have repeatedly shared that in order to comply with Bill C-18, passed today in Parliament, content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada.
Earlier this month, we announced that we were conducting product tests to help us build an effective product solution to end news availability as a result of C-18. These tests are ongoing and currently impact a small percentage of users in Canada.
FVN has yet to know if a small indie such as Fraser Valley News will be impacted partially or totally.
The changes affecting news content will not otherwise impact Meta’s products and services in Canada. We want to assure the millions of Canadians on our platforms that they will always be able to connect with friends and family, grow their businesses and support their local communities.
We will continue to combat misinformation and have built the largest global fact-checking network of any platform by partnering with more than 90 independent fact-checking organisations around the world who review and rate viral misinformation in more than 60 languages globally. Fact-checking will continue with respect to content that remains available in Canada.
