Meta has announced that it will block access to news published on Facebook And instagram for all users who use these platforms in Canada, following the approval of the Online Information Act by the Parliament of that country.

The Online News Act or Bill C-18 is a rule Canada raised earlier this year that seeks tech platforms like Meta to partner with media outlets to share revenue. Indeed, a large part of the income generated by the news of these media is retained by these platforms.

As part of this, the company led by Mark Zukerberg already announced earlier this month that it was carrying out tests to “create an effective solution to end the availability of information following C-18”. These tests are currently underway and affect “a small percentage” of users in Canada.

Now, the Canadian Parliament has approved the Online News Act and Meta to come into force, they have confirmed that access to news on their major platforms will no longer be available to all users in Canada “until its Coming into force” .

As he pointed out in a statement on his blog, to comply with Bill C-18, media content “including news publishers and broadcasters” will no longer be available to people accessing their platforms. in Canada.

However, Meta also indicated that the changes focused on news content will not affect the rest of the company’s products and services in Canada. Thus, they reiterated and assured Canadian users who use their platforms “that they will always be able to connect with friends and family, grow their businesses, and support their local communities.”

Likewise, the company reiterated that it will continue to “fight against misinformation” regarding the content that remains available in Canada. In this sense, he appreciated having built “the largest fact-checking network in the world”, by partnering with more than 90 independent fact-checking organizations, which examine and qualify disinformation in more than 60 languages. .