[UPDATE] Meta Confirms Removal of News Content From Facebook and Instagram in Canada

Meta has confirmed the removal of all news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada as the country's Senate has passed the Online News Act. This legislation will force tech companies to pay media outlets for news content that they share.

Meta Removing News Content in Canada

Hours after the Online News Act was passed on Thursday, Meta officially confirmed the removal of news content on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada.

Earlier this month, the company threatened to remove the availability of all news content from Facebook and Instagram in Canada once the Canadian government passes its proposed Online News Act.

"We have repeatedly shared that in order to comply with Bill C-18, passed today in Parliament, content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available to people accessing our platforms in Canada," Meta said in a statement on Thursday.

According to Engadget, content from news outlets, including news publishers and broadcasters, will no longer be available for Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram starting Thursday.

Meta has been very vocal about the company opposing the Online News Act, which will require tech companies to negotiate reimbursement plans and pay news publishers for their content posted on its platforms.

Canada has designed this bill to address the decrease in advertising revenue that news organizations experienced in the past few years. In a statement released in May, Meta's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said publishers need to adapt to changes, the Verge reported.

"Asking a social media company in 2023 to subsidize news publishers for content that isn't that important to our users is like asking email providers to pay the postal service because people don't send letters any more," Clegg noted.

Meta said Thursday that these newly-implemented changes would not impact other products and services offered by the company in Canada.

The company assured millions of Canadians on its platforms that they will still be able to utilize its other aspects and connect with families, friends, organizations, and businesses.

On the other hand, the Associated Press reported that Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has promised to push back on what he called "threats" from Facebook to remove journalism from their platforms.

Rodriguez noted that the company knows very well that it does not have obligations under the act immediately after the law passes and that the government will continue to engage in a regulatory and implementation process.

Online News Act Implementation in Canada

Forbes reported that under the law, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission would mediate between the publishers and platforms if they could not reach an agreement.

Parliament member Chris Bittle noted that this bill would be an important means of providing media and publications with revenue, knowing that more news outlets are going out of business. Meta has said that the company is working to develop a software to solve its issue with the Online News Act.

However, it noted that these efforts are still ongoing and "currently impact a small percentage of users in Canada." This move from Meta is not surprising, knowing that the company has been very vocal about removing the feature since March.

Meta has already removed its news features from the Australian market after passing similar compensation legislation in 2021. This move negatively impacted pages of agencies from the Australian government.

The Associated Press reported that the Online News Act will take effect six months after it gets royal assent.