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Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Meta wasn’t just a bluff. Its subsidiaries, Facebook and Instagram, have begun blocking news content in Canada in the form of text, photos and videos.

This decision follows the rules of the “Online News Act” adopted in Canada. The settlement requires platform providers such as Google and Meta to pay compensation to media companies, as producers of news content distributed via social media and other internet services.

“News links and content uploaded by news and broadcast companies are no longer available to users in Canada,” Meta’s official statement read.

“We identified the media companies based on legislative definitions and guidance from the Online Information Act,” reads the Meta announcement, quoted by Engadget, on Wednesday (8/02/2023).

Not only local media content, but also international news will be blocked on Facebook and Instagram platforms in Canada.

Facebook said this action had to be taken because it could not meet the requested compensation policy. Indeed, platform advertising revenues have declined over the past two years, following the increasingly massive growth of online services.

Meanwhile, Canadian authorities say the Online Information Act is an attempt to uphold justice for media companies. The Canadian Parliament’s budget director estimates that media companies could generate US$329 million from the Online News Act.

The regulations that apply in Canada are also proclaimed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo (Jokowi) through the “Publisher Rights” policy. Kominfo and several institutions would work on this policy.

Google has officially commented on the speech. One of the points raised by Google is that the discussion of this rule involves an independent institution that can see the interests of different parties.

For information, before Canada and Indonesia, Australia had already implemented a similar policy. Google and Facebook had threatened to block it, but finally managed to agree on the rules of the game in the country.

(fabulous/fabulous)