Facebook Could Block News Content in Canada Over Revenue-Sharing Bill

Facebook warned on Friday that it might block sharing of reports content material on its platform in Canada over issues about laws that might compel digital platforms to pay information publishers.

The Online News Act, launched in April, laid out guidelines to drive platforms like Meta’s Facebook and Alphabet’s Google to barter business offers and pay information publishers for his or her content material, in a transfer much like a ground-breaking legislation handed in Australia final 12 months.

The laws is into consideration at a parliamentary committee, to which the US social media firm mentioned it has not been invited to share its issues.

“We believe the Online News Act misrepresents the relationship between platforms and news publishers, and we call on the government to review its approach,” Marc Dinsdale, head of media partnerships at Meta Canada, mentioned in a weblog submit.

“In the face of adverse legislation based on false assumptions that defy the logic of how Facebook operates, we believe it’s important to be transparent about the possibility that we may be forced to reconsider allowing news content sharing in Canada,” Dinsdale wrote.

Canada’s Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who launched the invoice, mentioned in a press release on Friday that the federal government continued to have “constructive conversations” with Facebook.

“All we’re asking the tech giants like Facebook to do is negotiate fair deals with news outlets when they profit from their work,” Rodriguez mentioned in an emailed assertion.

The laws proposes that digital platforms which have a “bargaining imbalance” with information companies – measured by metrics like a agency’s world income – should make honest offers that might then be assessed by a regulator.

Dinsdale mentioned information content material was not a draw for Facebook customers and didn’t carry vital income to the corporate.

When Australia, which has led world efforts to rein within the powers of tech companies, proposed laws forcing them to pay native media for information content material, Google threatened to shut its Australian search engine, whereas Facebook minimize all third-party content material from Australian accounts for greater than every week.

Both finally struck offers with Australian media corporations after a collection of amendments to the laws had been provided.

© Thomson Reuters 2022