Following the passing of the Online News Act, Bill C-18, by the Canadian government back in June, social media conglomerate META has decided to remove news content from its platforms in Canada.
The media giant began blocking some Canadian users a few weeks ago in preparation for when the legislation would take full effect. However, moving forward, we will now begin to see a widespread blocking of all news-related content across the country. Users in Canada will no longer be able to post, view, or share news content on their platforms.
The intention of Bill C-18 is to ensure fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news outlets. The legislation requires digital platforms to compensate Canadian news outlets for the content they share through the application.
In response to the law, Meta states, “The legislation is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms when the reverse is true. News outlets voluntarily share content on Facebook and Instagram to expand their audiences and help their bottom line.”
The new legislation was modelled after a law passed in Australia back in 2021. At the time, Facebook banned news content from its platform in Australia. However, shortly after, the Australian government managed to reach a deal with Facebook, amending the law making digital giants pay for journalism content shared on their platforms and lifting the news ban.
The Canadian government continues to push through in implementing Bill C-18 amid Meta’s decision to block all news content within the country. Countries around the world are now watching closely to see how things will play out and whether Meta will give in and strike a deal with the Canadian government.
In light of these new developments, Memorial’s students will no longer be able to access the Muse’s content on Instagram. When attempting to access the Muse or any other news outlet on Social Media, you will see the following,
via @themusenl on Instagram
Meta’s decision to ban all news content in Canada is having an immediate effect on news outlets across the country, both local independent outlets and large-scale national news corporations. News outlets have been increasingly relying more heavily on digital platforms to share their content and reach a wider audience, and people across the globe rely equally on the news shared on social media to keep up with current events, especially the younger generation.
As a student editorial, the Muse’s audience base is largely university students whom we reach through social media. Unfortunately, the current circumstances are entirely out of our control, and so, moving forward, we will no longer be able to post our content to Instagram. Nonetheless, we refuse to let this slow us down and will continue to post frequent content on TikTok, Twitter (now X), and here on our site.
The Muse’s focus remains to provide news “by students, for students”
*Stay up to date with our content by following @themusenl on Twitter/X and TikTok*