Telset.id, Jakarta – Earlier this month, Meta announced via a blog post that it was removing various news content from Canada on Facebook and Instagram. This was done following the existence of the Online Information Act in the country.
For those who don’t know, last Thursday the Kanda government passed the previously proposed Online News Act. This policy immediately caused Meta to stop various advertising content on its platform.
“Today we confirmed that the availability of news on Facebook and Instagram to all users in Canada will cease before the Online News Act (Bill C-18) comes into force,” wrote Meta on his blog.
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“We have repeatedly said that in order to comply with Bill C-18, passed today in Parliament, the accounts of news media, including publishers and broadcasters of information, will no longer be accessible to users of our platform in Canada,” added Meta.
This policy was essentially created in response to the significant decline in advertising revenues that Canadian news agencies have experienced over the past two decades. This is done by asking large tech companies, such as Google and Meta, to negotiate media payment plans when news breaks on social media.
This month, Meta also announced that it was working on a software solution to the C-18 problem. As of Thursday, this effort was still ongoing and currently affecting a small group of users in Canada.
Although news content will no longer be available, Meta has assured that this decision will not affect other aspects of the Facebook experience for users based in Canada.
Additionally, this is not the first time Meta has complied with government regulations and removed content on its platform.
In 2021, the company also removed news reporting from regional Australia as the country adopted a similar compensation policy. Even to the point of preventing press publishers from creating links to their publications on social networks.
At that time, William Easton, managing director of Facebook Australia and New Zealand, explained that due to this policy, the company would focus on investments in other countries.
Currently, Google, which will be affected by this policy in Canada, has not announced its intention to officially stop its services in this country. The search engine giant also began testing ways to block access to information in Canada in February.
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Reported Teleset Since Engadget, a Google spokesperson explained that the company had proposed solutions to improve policy implementation and pave the way for increased investments. However, so far the company’s concerns have not been addressed, but the company is still trying to cooperate with the government. [FY/IF]
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