The feds just told Meta, “Oh, you wanna be withholding? Well, two can play at that game.”
What’s happening: The federal government has suspended its advertising on Facebook and Instagram—worth about $10 million annually—in response to Meta’s decision to block Canadian news content for Canadian users once the Online News Act comes into effect.
- Québec Teleco Quebecor, which owns the Journal de Montréal and Journal de Québec newspapers, also pulled ads from Facebook and Instagram in retaliation.
Catch-up: The act will force major online platforms to strike deals with publishers for linking to their content. The intention was to give publishers that have lost ad dollars to social media companies—which have profited off of their content—a ‘lil extra something.
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Meta claims Facebook generated over 1.9 billion clicks in Canada for news articles between April 2021-2022—traffic they claim is worth over $230 million for publishers.
Why it matters: Ottawa hopes that playing hardball will bring Meta to the bargaining table, where it can be talked into reversing the incoming ban.
Yes, but: Holding strong could backfire. Meta already thinks it can live without news. It probably can live without the feds’ ad dollars, too.
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Meta also has a good reason to show no weakness as it looks to make an example out of Canada to scare off other countries from enacting similar legislation.
Zoom out: On the flip side, Google—that other tech giant threatening a Canadian news ban—was praised by the feds for being open to finding a solution and will partake in the upcoming regulatory process.—QH