Facebook could block news in Canada with new law

Canada.- To date, the Facebook social network has not ruled out the idea of block news published on your platform in Canadathis as a result of the Canadian government’s news revenue sharing bill.

In a parliamentary committee, Canada’s public policy manager ObjectiveRachel Curran, was asked if the tech company could replicate what it had done in Australia in 2021 in the virtual space of the North American country.

It was last April of this year when Bill C-18, the “Online News Act”which focuses on Google and Facebook through which it seeks to force these platforms to negotiate commercial agreements so that share with Canadian publishers the revenue they derive from the news they publish.

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“The short answer is that we are still evaluating this legislation. We didn’t know its scope until it was introduced very recently. I will say we have some pretty serious concerns,” the Meta exec responded.

However, while he expressed the company’s concern over the bill, he clarified that, at this time, he could not comment on future actions to be taken by the company.

“I cannot definitively comment on our future action on this bill,” he said.

The aforementioned Canadian initiative obliges platforms such as Google and Facebook to enter into commercial agreements with publishers in the North American country so that they share with them the monetary income they receive for the dissemination of news, so that s If they fail to reach the aforementioned agreements, these companies will face mandatory negotiations and final offer arbitration.

“Australians have not tolerated this and neither have Canadians, especially in the midst of a global pandemic when relying on reliable sources of information,” News Media Canada CEO Paul Deenegan said. in an email following Curran’s remarks.

Although independent judges are responsible for bringing about negotiations between the two parties, this will be the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, for its acronym in English) the regulatory body that will oversee the new regime, with the power to decree fines of up to $15 million per day companies that do not comply.

After the head of public policy for Canada at Meta assured that Facebook was not consulted on the new Canadian bill, the secretary of the Minister of Heritage, Laura Scaffidi, argued that said statements are “false” , saying that this year and last year meetings were held with company executives.

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“Today Facebook representative Rachel Curran falsely claimed that the company was not consulted on the content of the Online Information Act,” Scaffidi said.

Alvin Nguyen

"Amateur introvert. Pop culture trailblazer. Incurable bacon aficionado."

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