Canada has passed a new law that requires technology companies to pay news publishers for their content, which prompted Meta to block news articles for all users of social networking sites, Facebook and Instagram, in Canada, according to Forbes magazine.
Canada followed in Australia’s footsteps and passed the Online News Law in Parliament last Thursday, in light of a growing global trend to protect the rights of publishers and original news sources that have lost much of their revenue due to social media platforms publishing news without compensation.
The Canadian Parliament enacted legislation requiring Meta and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) companies to negotiate compensation deals with news publishers if the platforms want to publish, or link social media platforms to their news sites, according to the Emirati newspaper, “Al Bayan”.
Meta said in a statement that the bill was “fundamentally flawed” and that it was taking the step to block content from publishers and broadcasters in order to comply with the bill.
Meta did not say if it would reconsider allowing news articles to be published in the future.
In Australia in 2021, Meta banned the publication of the news before later reaching agreements with publishers.
Under the new law, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission will be responsible for mediation if publishers and social media platforms cannot strike an agreement.
