Meta on August 1 started blocking the distribution of news links and articles on its Facebook and Instagram platforms.
Meta is being accused of endangering lives by blocking news links in Canada at a crucial moment when thousands have fled their homes and are desperate for wildfire updates that once would have been shared widely on Facebook. The situation "is dangerous," said Kelsey Worth, 35, one of nearly 20,000 residents of Yellowknife and thousands more in small towns ordered to evacuate the Northwest Territories as wildfires advanced.
She described to AFP how "insanely difficult" it
has been for herself and other evacuees to find verifiable information about
the fires blazing across the near-Arctic territory and other parts of Canada.
"Nobody's able to know what's true or not," she said. "And when
you're in an emergency situation, time is of the essence," she said, explaining
that many Canadians until now have relied on social media for news.
Meta on August 1 started blocking the distribution of news
links and articles on its Facebook and Instagram platforms in response to a
recent law requiring digital giants to pay publishers for news content. The
company has been in a virtual showdown with Ottawa over the bill passed in
June, but which only takes effect next year.
Building on similar legislation introduced in Australia, the
bill aims to support a struggling Canadian news sector that has seen a flight
of advertising dollars and hundreds of publications closed in the last decade.
It requires companies like Meta and Google to make fair commercial deals with
Canadian outlets for the news and information -- estimated in a report to
parliament to be worth Can$330 million (US$250 million) per year -- that is
shared on their platforms, or face binding arbitration.
But Meta has said the bill is flawed and insisted that news
outlets share content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms to attract
readers, benefiting them and not the Silicon Valley firm.
Profits over safety
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week assailed Meta,
telling reporters it was "inconceivable that a company like Facebook is
choosing to put corporate profits ahead of (safety)... and keeping Canadians
informed about things like wildfires." Almost 80 percent of all online
advertising revenues in Canada go to Meta and Google, which has expressed its
own reservations about the new law.
Ollie Williams, director of Cabin Radio in the far north,
called Meta's move to block news sharing "stupid and dangerous." He
suggested in an interview with AFP that "Meta could lift the ban
temporarily in the interests of preservation of life and suffer no financial
penalty because the legislation has not taken effect yet."
Nicolas Servel, over at Radio Taiga, a French-language
station in Yellowknife, noted that some had found ways of circumventing Meta's
block. They "found other ways to share" information, he said, such as
taking screenshots of news articles and sharing them from personal -- rather
than corporate -- social media accounts.
'Life and death'
Several large newspapers in Canada such as The Globe and
Mail and the Toronto Star have launched campaigns to try to attract readers
directly to their sites. But for many smaller news outlets, workarounds have
proven challenging as social media platforms have become entrenched. Public
broadcaster CBC in a letter this week pressed Meta to reverse course.
"Time is of the essence," wrote CBC president
Catherine Tait. "I urge you to consider taking the much-needed
humanitarian action and immediately lift your ban on vital Canadian news and
information to communities dealing with this wildfire emergency." As more
than 1,000 wildfires burn across Canada, she said, "The need for reliable,
trusted, and up-to-date information can literally be the difference between life
and death."
Meta -- which did not respond to AFP requests for comment --
rejected CBC's suggestion. Instead, it urged Canadians to use the "Safety
Check" function on Facebook to let others know if they are safe or not.
Patrick White, a professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, said Meta
has shown itself to be a "bad corporate citizen." "It's a matter
of public safety," he said, adding that he remains optimistic Ottawa will
eventually reach a deal with Meta and other digital giants that addresses their
concerns.