The Canadian government is suspending its advertisements on Facebook and Instagram in response to Meta Platforms Inc.’s plan to permanently end news availability on its platforms in the country.
It’s the latest escalation in the quarrel that erupted when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government passed a law in June requiring digital platforms — including Meta and Alphabet Inc. — to negotiate commercial deals with local publishers for featuring news content. Both tech giants said they intended to block news on their platforms by the time the law takes effect later this year.
“Platforms benefit from the status quo. They benefit from the fact that there’s currently nothing forcing them to contribute to our Canadian news system,” Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Wednesday in Ottawa. “That status quo isn’t working. All we want, all Canadians want, is for these platforms to contribute their fair share.”
