Facebook parent Meta said on Saturday that it would end the availability of news content to Canadians on its platforms if the country’s Online News Act is passed in its current form.
The “Online News Act,” or House of Commons Bill C-18, introduced in April of last year, required platforms like Meta to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content. Rules were made to compel.
“A legislative framework that forces us to pay for links or content that we don’t post, and that causes people to access our platforms,” a Meta spokesperson said as a reason for the suspension. forms, is neither sustainable nor viable,” access to news in the country.
Meta’s move comes as Google began testing limited news censorship last month as a possible response to the bill.
Canada’s news media industry has asked the government for more regulation of tech companies to allow the industry to recoup the financial losses it has suffered over the years as tech giants like Google and Meta have steadily gained market share in advertising. are doing
The Department of Canadian Heritage did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Meta’s move to end access to news in the country.
Facebook raised concerns about the legislation last year and warned it could be forced to block news sharing on its platform.
