Canada's move is the latest episode in a spat that started after Trudeau's administration proposed a bill that would require technology companies to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.
Canada government announced Wednesday it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, in response to Meta's decision to block access to news content on their social platforms as part of a temporary test.
Canada government announced Wednesday it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, in response to Meta's decision to block access to news content on their social platforms as part of a temporary test. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government's decision at a news conference.
Canada's move is the latest episode in a spat that started after Trudeau's administration proposed a bill that would require technology companies to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.
Meta promised at the time to block Canadian news content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms to address Canada's recently passed Online News Act.
Rodriguez said the decision from Meta is "unreasonable" and "irresponsible," and as a result Canada would stop advertising on their platforms.
The annual report on government spending shows the federal government spent just over 11.4 million Canadian dollars (around USD 8.6 million) advertising on Facebook and Instagram in 2021-2022.
Google has also promised to start blocking Canadian news when the bill takes effect in six months.Rodriguez said the government is in talks with the company and believes their concerns will be managed by the regulations that will come to implement the bill.
Canada government announced Wednesday it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, in response to Meta's decision to block access to news content on their social platforms as part of a temporary test.
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government's decision at a news conference.
Canada's move is the latest episode in a spat that started after Trudeau's administration proposed a bill that would require technology companies to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.
Meta promised at the time to block Canadian news content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms to address Canada's recently passed Online News Act.
Rodriguez said the decision from Meta is 'unreasonable' and 'irresponsible' and as a result Canada would stop advertising on their platforms.
The annual report on government spending shows the federal government spent just over 11.4 million Canadian dollars (around USD 8.6 million) advertising on Facebook and Instagram in 2021-2022.
Google has also promised to start blocking Canadian news when the bill takes effect in six months.
Rodriguez said the government is in talks with the company and believes their concerns will be managed by the regulations that will come to implement the bill.
AND FURTHER,
"Google's concerns can be met by what we plan to do in the (law's) regulations," said Minister of Heritage Pablo Rodriguez at a news conference on Wednesday.
On the other hand, Mr Rodriguez said Meta has not been engaging with the government in the same way on a path forward.
"Meta are not talking to us," he said, adding their decision to block news for Canadians is "unreasonable and irresponsible".
Mr Rodriguez estimates that Canada's decision to pull all advertising on Meta's platform will cost the tech giant C$10m ($7.54m; £5.93m) in business.
He did not say whether the advertising pull would apply to Meta's new platform Threads, which is scheduled to debut on Thursday as a rival to Twitter. But Mr Rodriguez said Canada's move in theory would apply to all platforms under the parent company.
The loss of government advertising is a drop in the bucket for Meta, whose annual revenue in 2022 was over $116bn. But Mr Rodriguez said Canada is determined to send a message that it will not be intimidated.
He added he hopes it will inspire others, including Canadian companies, to do the same. Media firms Quebecor and Cogeco, both based in the province of Quebec, said they will also be pulling advertisements from Meta.
In a statement to the BBC, Meta said that Bill C-18 "is flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work".
"Publishers actively choose to post on Facebook and Instagram because it benefits them to do so," the company said.
The federal government says the bill is necessary to allow struggling news organisations to "secure fair compensation" for news and links shared on the tech platforms.
A similar law to Bill C-18 was passed in Australia in 2021 but it was tweaked after Meta briefly blocked users in the country from sharing or viewing news on its platform.
The blackout ended when the amendments were made, and Google and Meta have since negotiated more than 30 deals with Australian media companies.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he believes Canada has become a global test case for laws like Bill C-18.
"This is what they want to do, make an example of us," said Mr Trudeau of tech giants like Meta.
"Facebook decided that Canada is a small enough country that they could reject our asks," he said. "They made the wrong choice by deciding to attack Canada."
Mr Rodriguez said Canada has been discussing its law with other countries looking to pass similar legislation, like the UK, Indonesia and Brazil.
Canada has also seen support from some US senators and pundits.
An opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times by columnist Brian Merchant on Wednesday said "Canada must absolutely not give in to the tech giants' tantrum".
US Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is leading the push for a similar bill in Washington DC, has also spoken up in support of Canada's law.
Meta has already begun restricting access to news to a small percentage of Canadians in tests and said it plans to implement a full blackout in the coming weeks.
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