Meta says it will limit news on all its platforms to Canadians after the senate passed a bill to force digital platforms to pay news outlets for their contents.
Canada’s Online News Act have been given consent by the senate, prompting moves to limit access to news in Canada. The Act is intended to “ensure fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news outlets, provide for collective bargaining by news outlets, and also promote voluntary commercial agreements between digital platforms and news outlets with minimal government intervention”.
Meta which owns Instagram and Facebook says it will begin to limit news access on all it platforms to Canada users after the controversial bill was passed by parliaments.
Both Meta and Google are already testing limiting news access in Canada, in preparation for a total halt in News display on all its platform before the Online News Act takes effect.
The new bill has been criticized by social media giants and digital online platform as a flawed legislation that does not take into consideration the realities of their operations. Meta has describes legislation as unworkable and is preparing to completely limit news access to Canadian user.
A similar legislation which was passed by Australia’s parliament triggered similar news limiting threats by Meta in 2021. Following negotiations and some amendment to the Australian Online News Act, full access to news was restored.
Reuters report which cites a former chair of Australia’s Competition Regulator, shows that since the law was enforced in Australia, Meta and Google have paid about US$ 134 million annually to news outlets in Australia.
The New Act in Canada provides the framework that will enable social media giants and online advertising platforms to negotiate commercial deals and pay for contents provided by news organizations.
Canada believes that it is government’s responsibility to ensure fare play, that will be beneficial to Canadians. A government source has hinted that discussions with both Facebook and Google occurred and will be continued to find a common ground before the bill takes effect in 6 months.
USA, Canada, and Australia are key regions that form Meta’s revenue hub. Lawmakers in the USA are also pushing to enshrine similar Online News Acts.
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