The testing period will run for several weeks, the social
media giant said, adding that a minor percentage of Canadian users enrolled in
testing will be notified if they attempt to share news content.
The test comes in response to Canada's proposed "Online
News Act". Introduced in April last year, the legislation would force
platforms like Meta and Google parent Alphabet to negotiate commercial deals
and pay Canadian news publishers for their content.
Meta had, in March, warned it would end the availability of
news content for Canadians on its platforms if the proposed bill was passed in
its current form.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who introduced
the bill last year, called the tests "unacceptable".
"When a big tech company... tells us, 'If you don't do
this or that, then I'm pulling the plug' – that's a threat. I've never done
anything because I was afraid of a threat," Rodriguez told Reuters.
Google rolled out similar tests earlier this year blocking
news content for some Canadian users as a test run for a potential response to
the online news bill. © Reuters
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