Ottawa passed a bill that demanded improved compensation by companies using Canadian news sources, Bill C-18. The digital giants, Google and Meta threatened to completely cut off all access to Canadian news on their sites.
The battle has been kicked up a heated notch….
- Ottawa has begun its engagement with Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, because the company has started to block news content for Canadian users of its platforms in response to a new law that requires them to pay publishers for news links. The Canadian government, like the Australian has done already, is trying to get better compensation for the aforementioned companies who use Canadian news sources without paying fair compensation.
- The law, which was passed by the Liberal government, aims to support the journalism industry that has been hurt by the tech giants’ dominance of the digital advertising mark. They published all the news attracting more readers and getting more advertising money because of it. However, giving fair compensation to Canadian news for what they create is off the table.
- Meta argues that it provides value to the news industry by driving traffic and revenue to news outlets, and that its users do not come to its platforms for news. This is hard to believe: they’re saying users of Facebook and Instagram first read the news on their platform and then detour away to the actual Canadian news sources. Sure, and I have some prime real estate for you in Okefinokee, Florida.
- The ban will affect all news content from Canadian and international publishers and broadcasters and will prevent Canadians from viewing or sharing any news links on Facebook and Instagram.
We have been long time supporters of Canadian news sources, urging our site visitors to subscribe to the Canadian news media. Now, we shift our recommendation…
“Stop using Facebook. Stop using Instagram. Let’s fight back. They want to cut us off from our own news. Let’s cut them off from our support of them.”
[NOTE: I fear that it is just a matter of time and a matter of how soon they spot me, before these giants attack and crush little guys like me. Right now I am too small to be noticed, but if Canadians take up the cause, The Goliaths will begin stomping every bit of ground around them and I will be destroyed.]
