Meta Platforms Inc. warns Canada that the company is prepared to block Canadian news content sharing over a media revenue-sharing legislation.
According to The Verge, Facebook is threatening to ban news sharing in Canada if the country passes the new Online News Act that makes news outlets pay for their content.
The Online News Act Compels Platforms To Pay Compensation
Meta says that it may stop sharing news content with Canadians in light of the proposed Online News Act that forces platforms like Facebook to share revenue with local news organizations.
This law bears resemblance to an Australian law that was introduced last year called the News Media Bargaining Code.
This law requires Facebook and Google to pay for the news they put on their platforms has been passed by the Australian Government eventually.
In a statement, Facebook says that the proposal misrepresents the relationship between big platforms and news publishers, even urging the Canadian government to rethink its approach.
The company adds that the threat to ban news sharing has only come after Canada's House of Commons Heritage Committee met about the matter, and they were not invited, The Verge writes.
"We have always approached our engagement with Canadian public authorities on this legislation in the spirit of honest and fair debate," Facebook explains.
Engadget reports that Meta expresses its surprise that the Committee has not given them an invitation to the meeting, given that the public comments and the law targets Facebook specifically.
Meanwhile, Facebook defends itself from the accusations of being unfair by revealing that news content is not a significant source of revenue for them since it only makes up 3% of Canadian Facebook Feeds.
Facebook Wishes They Could Have Raised Their Concerns
In their statement, Facebook writes that despite the issue, they are still investing in partnerships and programs that support the development of sustainable business models for news organizations.
However, the company also says that there are some concerns that they would have raised if the Committee had sent them an invitation to sit down and discuss the law.
Facebook says that Canadian news publishers choose to share links on platforms like Facebook to reach a wider audience for free, earning them more than $230 million annually.
This would not have been the case if the Canadian government charges news publishers to achieve their reach with a fixed compensation.
Additionally, Meta believes that the legislation would require them to acquiesce to a system that lets publishers charge the company for a price with no limits, MSN reports.
With this, the Online News Act will create different forms of financial liability for Facebook in Canada, which might make the company reconsider if they want to continue sharing news in the country.
It will also regulate a space where competition and creativity can thrive by stifling innovation through the reduction of trust in media in the online environment, Facebook writes.
Because of this, Meta urges the Canadian government to consider a policy response that highlights support for public interest by being open to working together with companies towards their goals.
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