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JAKARTA – The decision of Meta Platform Inc., the parent company of Facebook, to block news links in Canada this month has no effect on its visitors or users. Data from an independent tracking company shows that the move had virtually no impact on Canadians’ use of Facebook. This comes as the company faces heavy criticism from the Canadian government over the move.

Data shared by Similarweb, a digital analytics firm that tracks website and app traffic, shows that the number of daily active users and time spent on the Facebook app in Canada has remained relatively flat since Meta began blocking information there at the beginning of August. Similarly, analytics firm Data.ai provided similar information that its data showed no significant change in platform usage in Canada in August.

These estimates, while still preliminary, support Meta’s claim that the news is of little value to the company. It comes as Meta finds itself in a tense showdown in Canada over a new law that forces internet giants to pay publishers for news articles shared on their platforms.

Constitution Online Information Actwhich was passed by the Canadian Parliament in June, forced platforms like Meta and Alphabet, parent company of Google, to negotiate commercial agreements with Canadian news publishers for the use of their content.

Meta and Google said the law was unenforceable for their business. In particular, Meta said that links to news articles make up less than 3% of Facebook’s News Feed content and have no economic value to the company.

Nevertheless, Meta itself reports that news remains one of the most popular content on Facebook when it exists, at least in the United States, the only country where Meta leaks the most viewed content.

Since early August, the company has stopped sharing information about its service in Canada, while Google has announced its intention to block information from search results in Canada once this law takes effect.

Canadian government officials have accused Meta of playing a game of deleting information from its platform at a time of growing need in Canada, especially as wildfires have forced thousands from their homes. Nevertheless, unspoken negotiations over the rules are still taking place behind the scenes.

Specific rules on how the law will be implemented will be released in late December, after which platforms are expected to finalize agreements with publishers.

Canada’s new culture minister, Pascale St-Onge, has been talking to Facebook and Google since being sworn in following a cabinet reshuffle in late July. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the conversation.

The Canadian regulator responsible for implementing the national law on online information announced Thursday, August 24 that it would begin this fall to define the framework for negotiations between these press organs and the Internet giant, with the aim of objective of starting binding negotiations in early 2023.

Tags: meta platform inc meta facebook canada google