Global Courant
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says the federal government will suspend all its advertising on Facebook and Instagram following what he called social media giant Meta’s “unreasonable” and “irresponsible” decision to pull Canadian news from its platforms in response to the online News Act.
The federal government’s Online News Act, C-18, passed parliament nearly two weeks ago, forcing digital giants like Google and Meta to pay media outlets for content shared, viewed, or otherwise reused on their platforms.
Both Meta and Google have announced since the bill passed that they will block Canadian news in response to the bill.
“Today, we are calling on both platforms to stay at the table, walk with us through the regulatory process, do their part and keep news on their platform,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.
Rodriguez told CTV’s Power Play last week that he was “a little surprised” by Google’s decision to block Canadian newscasts from its search engine, adding that his office was in talks with the digital giant.
The heritage minister reiterated on Wednesday that those talks are ongoing and he is confident the federal government and Google will come to an agreement, so there are no plans to suspend advertising with that company at this time.
More to come.
