Meta threatens to stop sharing news if Canada enacts regulatory bill
Christopher Hutton
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Facebook parent company Meta threatened to stop sharing news in Canada in response to pending legislation that would force it to share more profits with journalism outfits, a hardball approach toward a form of regulation that has gained support in the United States as well.
“This legislation puts Meta in an invidious position,” Meta spokesman Nick Clegg said in prepared testimony made public on Monday. “In order to comply, we have to either operate in a flawed and unfair regulatory environment or we have to end the availability of news content in Canada. With a heavy heart, we choose the latter.”
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The legislation in question, C-18, would force Big Tech companies to negotiate compensation deals with news organizations so that they must pay them for all content published on their platforms. The bill is intended to help the Canadian news industry thrive in light of a waning advertising industry. The House of Commons has approved the bill, and the Senate is considering it. It is expected to pass by summer.
Clegg said the bill is “flawed legislation” that would “subsidize big broadcasters at the expense of independent publishers and digital news sites.”
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Facebook has threatened to pull news in past tussles with governments. Congress is considering a similar bill in the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act in 2023. The bill was pushed through the Judiciary Committee last term but failed to pass due to disagreements about amendments. Meta made similar threats over the JCPA.
The company banned sharing and viewing news stories in Australia after the country passed a law requiring the Big Tech giant to pay news outlets for their content. Yet the ban was reversed within days after international pressure.