Facebook warns it could block news in Canada over proposed legislation
Facebook might ban news sharing in Canada if the country passes legislation forcing the company to pay news outlets for their content (via The Wall Street Journal). In a post shared on FridayFacebook parent company Meta says Canada’s proposed Online News Act falsely presumes that it “unfairly benefits from its relationship with publishers.”
First introduced in April, the Online News Act compels online platforms like Facebook and Google to share revenue with the publishers they aggregate their news from. The goal of the bill is to ensure news outlets are fairly compensated for their work. Canada’s House of Commons Heritage Committee held a meeting about the legislation last week, but Meta says it wasn’t invited.
While Google later walked back on its plans after striking deals with media organizations, Facebook reversed its news ban only after Australia amended its legislation. Facebook’s temporary ban is not only affected by news outlets but also ripped down posts from government agencies, like local fire and health departments. Earlier this year, a group of Facebook whistleblowers claimed the move was a negotiation tactic, alleging Facebook used an overly broad definition of what’s considered a news publisher to cause chaos in the country. The company maintains the disorder was “inadvertent.”
“We may be forced to consider whether we continue to allow the sharing of news content on Facebook in Canada as defined under the Online News Act”
Now Facebook’s prepared to put a block on news in Canada if the country doesn’t