MADRID, August 21 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused tech giant Meta, a parent of social networks like Facebook and Instagram, of “putting corporate profits ahead of public safety” by blocking access to logs amid a wave of forest fires.

Meta began blocking access to news earlier this month in retaliation for a law that requires tech platforms to partner with media to share revenue, a move Google has also threatened.

“Now is not the time for something like this,” Trudeau said Monday, during a media appearance in which he stressed that, “in an emergency situation,” access to information local updates “is more important than ever”, reports the Radio-Canada network.

For the Prime Minister, it is an “inconceivable” decision, although a spokesman for Meta already defended last week that he does not foresee any change in his current policy, alleging that the sources of official information, such as government pages They are not subject to any veto.

The North American country has been experiencing one of its worst waves of fires for weeks, with more than 5,500 fires recorded since the start of the year. The authorities estimate the number of hectares burned to date at more than 13 million, a figure without historical precedent.

Last week, local authorities ordered the evacuation of thousands of people in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.