Canada's government to stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram after Meta says it will block news
Ottawa (AP): Canada's government has announced it would stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram, in response to Meta's decision to block access to news content on their social platforms as part of a temporary test.
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez announced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government's decision at a news conference on Wednesday.
Canada's move is the latest episode in a spat that started after Trudeau's administration proposed a bill that would require technology companies to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online.
Meta promised at the time to block Canadian news content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms to address Canada's recently passed Online News Act.
Rodriguez said the decision from Meta is "unreasonable" and "irresponsible", and as a result Canada would stop advertising on their platforms.
Reacting to the latest Canadian announcement, a Meta spokesperson said Wednesday that the Online News Act is a "flawed legislation that ignores the realities of how our platforms work", and that the company does not collect links to news content to show on their social platforms. He said publishers are the ones deciding to post them on Facebook or Instagram.
"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," said the spokesperson on a statement sent to The Associated Press.
The annual report on government spending shows the federal government spent just over 11.4 million Canadian dollars (around USD 8.6 million) advertising on Facebook and Instagram in 2021-2022.
Google has also promised to start blocking Canadian news when the bill takes effect in six months.
Rodriguez said the government is in talks with the company and believes their concerns will be managed by the regulations that will come to implement the bill.
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Jaya Bachchan raises concern over VIP movements causing road blocks, traffic diversions
New Delhi (PTI): Rajya Sabha Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Amitabh Bachchan on Monday expressed concern over the growing menace of VIP culture affecting vehicular traffic and causing inconvenience to people.
Raising the matter during the Zero Hour in the House, she said roadblocks and traffic diversions due to the movements of VIPs, including politicians, high-ranking officials, and dignitaries, have become a major source of disruption in the daily lives of countless citizens in the country.
"One has travelled all over the world, but has never seen many VIPs and cavalcades going, but they never stop people on the street," Bachchan said.
She also narrated a recent incident when Rajya Sabha MPs, who leave from Shardula Dwar, were stopped as the main door was locked because there was VIP movement.
"We have never faced such humiliation in the last 22 years of mine in this parliament. We are not a threat to any of the VIPs, especially the political lot," she empahsised.
The SP member further said there are roads along the houses of political "big wigs" which remain blocked.
The MP highlighted that not only common citizens, even ambulances get stuck due to VIP movements.
She urged Chairman C P Radhakrishnan to take up the matter with the government.
"Sir, speak to the government. You are the Vice President of this country...this culture has to stop in order to give dignity to the taxpayers of this country who have brought us into this House," Bachchan said.
