Action taken by Facebook, and its parent company Meta, is making Canadian news harder to find for users of its social media app.
Canadian news has been blocked from the Facebook app. This is in response to the federal government’s Online News Act.
Bill C-18 came into effect in June. The goal of the legislation was for platforms, such as those offered by Meta and Google, to develop agreements with Canadian news outlets to provide compensation.
Instead, Meta has blocked local media outlets from posting and sharing news on their platforms.
“Nearly one year ago, we shared our concerns that the Online News Act would force us to consider whether to continue allowing the sharing of news content on our platforms. We have been transparent and have made it clear to the Canadian government that the legislation misrepresents the value news outlets receive when choosing to use our platforms,” states an information sheet from Facebook.
The Conservative Party of Canada has been critical of the legislation.
“We highlighted in the last election that we had to find a path forward that would ensure that online content in this developing world we live in is addressed,” said Battle River-Crowfoot MP Damien Kurek. “What the Liberals proposed specifically in C-18 we had been warning from the beginning that it was an impending disaster. It is hitting especially the small news sources that depend on their content being distributed.”
He offers up how the situation may have been different with a different government.
“A good place to start would have been bringing people to the table,” he said.
“I am not going to forecast specifics of what that would and would not look like, but during the last election we said we need to figure out a path forward, and that included making sure local media have representation at the table, to make sure those conversations happen before bills were brought forward in parliament.”
He says to stay tuned for specifics to the party’s proposal to address the situation, “when that inevitable election comes, whether it be in the coming months, or the fall of 2025.”
Local news from The Drumheller Mail is available through its paper publication, out on stands on Wednesdays, or at www.drumhellermail.com
