Following Meta’s move to restrict news content for Canadians, Federal Officials in Canada have decided to not be “intimidated” by the tech giant and instead pull away all advertising from Meta platforms including Facebook and Instagram, which is believed to cost the tech giant around $7.54 million in business.
Several media reports have cited Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage of Canada stating that Meta, unlike Google, has not been talking to the federal government on its "unreasonable and irresponsible" decision to block news for Canadians.
He has also stated that Canadian Officials have decided not to be intimidated by Meta and to send a message for the same by pulling away all government advertising on Meta's platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, etc. which is estimated to cost the tech giant $7.54 million in business and that this move will also inspire others, including Canadian companies, to do the same.
However, in its defence, Meta has told BBC that Bill C-18 "is flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work" and that "Publishers actively choose to post on Facebook and Instagram because it benefits them to do so."
That being said, the federal government shares the viewpoint that the bill is necessary to allow struggling news organisations to "secure fair compensation" for news and links shared on tech platforms.
Notably, this is not the first time that Bill C-18 has made companies enter into a fray with the government. Earlier in 2021, a similar law to Bill C-18 was passed in Australia and was soon tweaked after the tech giant, Meta, had briefly blocked users in the country from sharing or viewing news on its platform.
Rodriguez further stated that Canada has been discussing its law with other countries looking to pass similar legislation as the one in Canada which requires tech platforms to pay media for news like the UK, Indonesia and Brazil and has also seen support from some US senators.
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