Canada says it will pull all advertising from Meta’s social media platforms

Toronto: As the faceoff between tech giants and the Canadian government continues, Ottawa announced on Wednesday that it is pulling all advertising from Facebook and Instagram.

That move comes after Meta, the parent company for the social media platforms, announced last month it will remove Canadian news content after the enactment of the Online News Act under which it would be liable to pay news organisations for all featured links.

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez, “We have decided to take the necessary step of suspending all Government of Canada advertising to Facebook. We cannot continue paying advertising dollars to Meta while they refuse to pay their fair share to Canadian news organisations.”

At a media conference in Ottawa, he said that Instagram will be included in the measure. However, Google, which also announced that it will eliminate Canadian news for the same reason as Meta, has been spared the boycott, as the minister said “has been open to finding a solution”.

“Facebook has decided to be unreasonable, irresponsible and started blocking news,” he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government will stand its ground. “We are not backing down on this,” he said, during an event on Wednesday in the province of Quebec.

The industry group, News Media Canada, has supported the government action and called for more. “We encourage all municipal and provincial governments across Canada to do the same,” it said, in a statement.

Meta is also firm in its stance, as a spokesperson said, in a statement, “Unfortunately, the regulatory process is not equipped to make changes to the fundamental features of the legislation that have always been problematic, and so we plan to comply by ending news availability in Canada in the coming weeks.”

According to the government-funded outlet CBC News, during the fiscal year 2021-22, Meta received over 11 million Canadian dollars (approximately ₹68 crore) in advertising revenue from the Canadian government.

Interestingly, while the government is acting against Meta, the Liberal Party, according to Canadian media reports, will continue to advertise on Meta.

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