Facebook has warned that it may block news content on its platform in Canada, outlining concerns over the bill that would compel the company to pay news publishers. Canada's Online News Act which was introduced in April laid out rules for tech giants like Google and Facebook draw to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content. A similar action was taken by Australia, last year.
This comes after the Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez told a House of Commons committee, on Friday, that he would be open to amendments on the bill he says would make Canada a world leader in supporting a modern free press, according to AP.
In a statement, Meta noted its surprise that it was not invited to participate in the House heritage committee's study of the bill.
“We feel it is important to be transparent about the possibility that we may be forced to consider whether we continue to allow the sharing of news content in Canada,” says Dinsdale's statement, adding that Meta is “open to working with the government.”
In the statement, Marc Dinsdale, Meta Canada's head of media partnerships argued that the legislation would essentially make the company pay for content that media companies voluntarily share on the platform, which it says already amounts to “free marketing” for their new products.
"We believe the Online News Act misrepresents the relationship between platforms and news publishers, and we call on the government to review its approach," Dinsdale wrote.
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"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,"
According to AP, Rodriguez told the committee, "It's about the future of journalism in our country. The act is about ensuring that news outlets in Canada get fair compensation for their work."
Bill C-18 sets up the framework that would require companies such as Meta to negotiate deals to pay media outlets. It wouldn't affect any deals that the companies have already made with journalism outfits, the report stated.
Meanwhile, Dinsdale said that it has repeatedly told the government that "news content is not a draw for our users and is not a significant source of revenue for our company."
Last year, Australia proposed similar legislation forcing Google and Facebook to pay news outlets. Google threatened to close its Australian search engine, and Facebook removed news content from its platform in that country for several days, according to Reuters.
Eventually, when the Australian government offered tweaks to the legislation, the tech giants struck deals with the country's media companies.