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 the profits of its business ahead of public safety” by blocking access to newspapers in full wave. 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 Up-to-date local information “is more important than ever”, reports the CBC network.

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

The North American country is experiencing one of its worst surges of fires in weeks, with more than 5,500 blazes recorded so far this year. The authorities estimate to date the number of hectares burned 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.