Canada Still Pushing Facebook to Pay for News, Says Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has again said that Ottawa will persist in urging Meta to stick to the newly enacted Online News Act, despite the Facebook parent’s decision to block news sharing in Canada rather than comply with the law’s payment requirements.

The feds published the final regulations for the Online News Act, set to be enforced starting today, December 19. This law mandates technology companies with over 20 million unique monthly users and annual revenues exceeding $1 billion CAD to compensate Canadian news publishers for using their content.

Alphabet’s Google and Meta are the only companies meeting these criteria in Canada. Google has agreed to pay $100 million CAD annually to Canadian news publishers, while Meta has chosen to block news sharing on Facebook and Instagram in Canada, to comply with the law.

“We will continue to push Meta, that makes billions of dollars in profits, even though it is refusing to invest in the journalistic rigor and stability of the media,” Trudeau touted during a press conference in Vancouver on Friday, reports Reuters.

Meta, however, remains firm in its decision. Rachel Curran, Head of Public Policy for Meta Canada, said, “News outlets choose to use our free services because it helps their bottom line, and today’s release of final regulations does not change our business decision.”

The Online News Act is part of a global movement aimed at addressing the concerns of the Canadian media industry, which has seen declining revenues as internet companies increasingly dominate the online advertising market.

Meta initiated the news sharing block on Facebook and Instagram in August, asserting that news content does not hold economic value for its business operations.

Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge noted that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) would closely monitor Facebook and Meta’s compliance with the law.

Do the feds think they actually will be able to pressure Meta into paying for news? Keep that popcorn flowing folks…