loosecanon50:
But why though? What's happening?

Meta began blocking news links for Facebook and Instagram users in Canada in June after the country passed a law that allows news organizations to negotiate with tech giants to receive payment for articles shared on their platforms. The ban by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has rankled Canadian authorities trying to share evacuation information this week across a remote swath of the country where social media is key to disseminating news.

“What Meta is doing currently is unacceptable,” said Pablo Rodriguez, Canada’s transportation minister, at a news briefing Friday. “We’ve seen that, throughout this emergency, Canadians have not had access to the crucial information they need. So, I ask Meta to reverse its decision, allow Canadians to have access to news on their platforms.”

Google told the Canadian government it would block articles from Canada-based news outlets from appearing in search results and other products in the country after the passage of a new bill that would require Google to pay a fee to news companies.

The new bill, C-18, was passed last week. The bill would have brought in $329 million for Canadian newsrooms annually, Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated, a revenue stream that now seems unlikely to materialize. It requires companies such as Meta and Google to pay media outlets when they link to news in search or feeds.

"Big tech would rather spend money changing their platforms to block news from Canadians instead of paying a small share of the billions they make in advertising dollars," Pablo Rodriguez, member of Parliament for Honoré-Mercier, said Thursday on Twitter. Google reported $40.69 billion in Search revenue for the second quarter of 2023.

Meta already said it would begin blocking Canadian news outlets from appearing on Facebook or Instagram after the bill's passage. A similar law was passed in Australia and prompted the same response from Meta, attracting significant controversy. Meta later cut a deal with the country and restored access to news.

"The fact that these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians' access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem, and now they're resorting to bullying tactics to try and get their way. It's not going to work," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters last week.

Updated on August 1st, 2023

In order to comply with the Online News Act, we have begun the process of ending news availability in Canada. These changes start today, and will be implemented for all people accessing Facebook and Instagram in Canada over the course of the next few weeks.

For Canadian news outlets this means:
News links and content posted by news publishers and broadcasters in Canada will no longer be viewable by people in Canada. We are identifying news outlets based on legislative definitions and guidance from the Online News Act.

For international news outlets this means:
News publishers and broadcasters outside of Canada will continue to be able to post news links and content, however, that content will not be viewable by people in Canada.

For our Canadian community this means:
People in Canada will no longer be able to view or share news content on Facebook and Instagram, including news articles and audio-visual content posted by news outlets.

ednut1:
[b]Every newsite is banned. Why making it look like only instablog was targeted. [/b]Use von run am

aieromon:




https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/08/18/meta-news-ban-canada-wildfires/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmTWreyjbgY

kettykin:
Someone is afraid nairaland will be banned in some parts of the world