Facebook and Instagram to restrict news access in Canada

In response to the passing of Canada’s Online News Act, Meta has announced that it will implement news restrictions on its platforms – Facebook and Instagram – for Canadians. 

The legislation successfully passed the Senate on Thursday. The bill mandates that major platforms must provide compensation to news publishers for the content published on their sites.

Both Meta and Google have already conducted trials limiting news access for certain Canadian users.

Drawing parallels to a similar law enacted in Australia in 2021, Facebook had blocked Australian users from sharing or viewing news content.

Meta has criticised the legislation as “fundamentally flawed” and failing to acknowledge the practical realities of how their platforms operate.

“A legislative framework that compels us to pay for links or content that we do not post, and which are not the reason the vast majority of people use our platforms, is neither sustainable nor workable,” a Meta spokesperson told Reuters.