Meta on Tuesday started blocking Canadians’ access to news on Facebook and Instagram in response to a new law requiring digital giants to pay publishers for such content.
Meta on Tuesday started blocking Canadians’ access to news on Facebook and Instagram in response to a new law requiring digital giants to pay publishers for such content.
Google, another critic of the Online News Act, has said it is considering a similar move, among an ongoing global debate as more governments try to make tech firms pay for news content.
“News links and content posted by news publishers and broadcasters in Canada will no longer be viewable by people in Canada,” Meta said in a statement.
News posted on foreign sites will also not be viewable by Canadian Facebook and Instagram users, and they will no longer be able to share articles on the two platforms.
Meta noted that the changes starting Tuesday would be implemented “over the course of the next few weeks.”
An AFP reporter was still able to see news on Facebook Tuesday, but some users reported already getting messages saying such content was being blocked.
The Online News Act builds on similar legislation introduced in Australia and aims to support a struggling Canadian news sector that has seen a flight of advertising dollars and hundreds of publications closed in the last decade.
