Toronto (Canada), July 5 (EFE).- The Canadian government and Quebecor, one of Canada’s leading media conglomerates, announced on Wednesday that they would suspend their advertising on Facebook and Instagram due to Meta’s decision to boycott a new law that requires social media networks to pay local publishers to distribute their information.

Quebecor, which encompasses everything from television channels, magazines and newspapers to record labels, accused Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, in a statement of “abusing” its position as well as “violate the fundamental principles of any society that “believes in the importance of reliable and trustworthy information for a healthy democracy.”

Shortly after Quebecor’s announcement, Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodríguez said the Canadian federal government had adopted the same measure in response to Meta’s “unreasonable and irresponsible” attitude.

On June 22, the Canadian Parliament approved the Internet News Act, which requires Internet platforms to pay media outlets for including their content in their services.

Following this approval, Meta and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced that they would block access to Canadian media information on all their platforms, to protest the law and to avoid having to compensate the companies. ‘information.

But Rodríguez added that although Google has also decided to block content, “it is open to finding a solution,” so the Canadian government will not suspend its advertising spending on its platforms for the moment.

“Meta, on the other hand, is not talking to us unless they call us this morning,” the Canadian minister said.

The Canadian government’s decision to cancel advertising spending in Meta was supported by two opposition parties, the Quebec Sovereignist Party (PQ) and the social-democrat New Democratic Party (NDP).

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In 2022, Quebecor, which employs 8,800 people, had revenues of 4.352 million Canadian dollars (3.280 million US dollars / approximately 3.018 million euros).

The company explained that Meta’s decision to prevent its Canadian users from accessing information “or to discriminate against Canadian media content on its platforms” is intolerable.

“In light of Meta’s categorical refusal to enter into negotiations, Quebecor announces that it is immediately withdrawing and until further notice all advertising from its subsidiaries and business units on Facebook and Instagram,” added the Canadian company .

The Internet news law, which has not yet come into force, was defended by News Media Canada, the association that brings together the country’s newspaper editors, who called it a measure aimed at equalizing the imbalance powers between editors and tech giants. sector.

For their part, Meta and Alphabet justified their opposition to paid media by believing that the distribution of links to their news is “beneficial” for newspapers and media.

(c) EFE Agency