As Meta tests news blocking in Canada, here are the first targets

Meta has started blocking news for some Canadians on its Facebook and Instagram platforms in response to a Liberal government bill that could soon become law.

Chris Dell, news editor of ChrisD.ca, a Winnipeg-based digital news outfit, said some readers informed him Monday that they are no longer able to access content the outlet had posted on Facebook.

“It appears Meta is blocking some of our content, but not all of it,” Dell said in a statement on Tuesday.

He says it’s unfortunate that these measures are being taken in response to the Online News Act, which would require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing news content.

“As a small local news outlet, the majority of our traffic comes from Facebook and Google. My hope is that an amicable agreement can be reached between Silicon Valley and Ottawa that doesn’t leave publishers caught in the middle,” Dell said.

Meta is running a test for the majority of the month that will temporarily block news content for up to five per cent of its Canadian users, and said it began that test last week.

The company said it is working towards an “effective product solution to end news availability in Canada” so as to comply with Bill C-18 if it becomes law.

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Paul Deegan, president of News Media Canada, said some Quebec newspapers are also being blocked on Facebook during the test, which he believes is an abuse of Meta’s dominant position in the marketplace.

“Meta has just exponentially increased opportunities for bad actors, including hostile foreign governments, to sow the seeds of misinformation and disinformation, which will ultimately undo the platform, erode its own shareholder value and undermine social cohesion,” Deegan said in a statement Tuesday.

“Democratic governments, regulators, enforcement agencies, publishers, advertisers and those around the world who value a free and plural press should be very alarmed.”

On Tuesday, a Senate committee finished its clause-by-clause consideration of the bill after a single two-hour meeting, passing about 12 amendments, the majority of which the government agrees with.

The bill is expected to go to third reading in the Senate this week.

The Liberal government has expressed its desire to have the bill become law before parliamentarians break for the summer at the end of next week.

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