CBC, media groups ask Competition Bureau to investigate Meta’s move to block news in Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada has joined other news publishers and broadcasters in requesting that Canada’s Competition Bureau investigate Meta’s decision to block news content on its digital platforms in Canada, describing the social media giant’s decision as “anticompetitive.”

Meta, which owns platforms like Facebook and Instagram, announced recently that it is permanently ending news availability for users in Canada in response to the country’s Online News Act, or Bill C-18, a law that requires tech companies like Google and Meta to pay media outlets for news content they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms.

Critics of Bill C-18, including Meta and Google, say it’s unfair, unworkable and amounts to a tax on links, with no recognition of the traffic or “free marketing” the tech companies provide to news publishers.

Meta has previously said that the only way it can “reasonably comply with this legislation is to end news availability” for users in Canada.

Meta’s conduct called ‘anticompetitive’ 

“Meta’s practices are clearly designed to discipline Canadian news companies, prevent them from participating in and accessing the advertising market, and significantly reduce their visibility to Canadians on social media channels,” the CBC said in a joint statement with the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and News Media Canada, a trade organization that represents newspapers.

“Meta’s anticompetitive conduct, which has attracted the attention of regulators around the world, will strengthen its already dominant position in advertising and social media distribution and harm Canadian journalism,” the statement read.

“The applicants ask the Competition Bureau to use its investigative and prosecutorial tools to protect competition and prohibit Meta from continuing to block Canadians’ access to news content.”

Legacy media and broadcasters have praised Bill C-18, which promises to “enhance fairness” in the digital news marketplace and help bring more money into shrinking newsrooms.

Tech companies including Meta and Google have been blamed in the past for disrupting and dominating the advertising industry, eclipsing smaller, traditional players.

“Facebook … would rather block their users from accessing good quality and local news instead of paying their fair share to news organizations,” Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said in a statement Tuesday. 

“Google and Facebook earn 80% of all digital advertising revenue in Canada. Meanwhile, hundreds of newsrooms have closed. A free and independent press is fundamental to our democracy, and Canadians expect tech giants to follow the law in our country.”

CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate position is that the Online News Act will help level the playing field and contribute to a healthy news ecosystem in Canada “at a time when 80 per cent of digital ad revenue goes to Facebook and Google,” spokesperson Leon Mar has previously said.

WATCH | The impact of Meta blocking news in Canada: 

Meta is pulling news off your feed. Now what?

Meta — Facebook and Instagram’s parent company — is starting to widely block news content on its platforms in Canada. A media expert and local publisher break down why it’s happening and how it will impact news organizations and consumers.