Earlier this year, the Canadian federal government enacted bill C-18, the Online News Act, which will compel large tech platforms to fairly compensate Canadian news organizations for news content shared on their platforms. The aim of the Act is to protect Canadian news outlets and ensure financial remuneration for their content.
In response, Google, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced they would be removing access to all Canadian news content on their platforms. Meta has already begun restricting access, with Google planning to follow suit by the end of the year. The Canadian federal government has not been able to successfully negotiate a deal with Google and Meta that will prevent the news block from going ahead.
What does this mean?
By restricting the access Canadians have to news, Google and Meta are constraining the ability Canadians have to act as informed citizens.To learn more about the Meta/Google news ban, and how it might impact you, check out the following news article:
Article: Facebook Is Blocking News in Canada With Google To Follow: What To Do
For Canadians wanting to stay up-to-date on news, there are alternative pathways to finding news, such as downloading a VPN, using Bing, or going directly to Canadian news websites like the CBC or Global News.